Supreme Court Rules Against Interurban Line in Fatal Collision
A long-standing legal battle concludes as the court upholds an $18,000 judgment for a 1906 tragedy on the interurban line.
The state supreme court has upheld judgments totaling $18,000 against the Puget Sound Electric Company. The suit was brought by the widow and children of W. L. Harris, who lost his life in a collision on the interurban line at Edgewood in December 1906. This final ruling closes a legal chapter on the disaster, forcing the company to pay damages for the loss of life caused by the accident.
“The supreme court has upheld judgments against the Puget Sound Electric company of $18,000 in favor of the widow and children of W. L. Harris.”
Public transit accidents were a frequent hazard of the rapid, often under-regulated expansion of streetcar and interurban rail networks in the early 20th century. This case highlights the early, brutal legal struggles families faced to secure accountability from large transit utilities.
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