Volume 74 Issue 3 Dickinson Law Review - Volume 74, 1969-1970 3-1-1970 Recent Cases Follow this and additional works at: https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/dlra Recommended Citation Recent Cases, 74 DICK. L. REV. 514 (1970). Available at: https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/dlra/vol74/iss3/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Dickinson Law IDEAS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dickinson Law Review by an authorized editor of Dickinson Law IDEAS. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Recent Cases NEGLIGENCE-THE END OF THE IMPACT RULE IN PENNSYLVANIA Niederman v. Brodsky, 436 Pa. 401, 261 A.2d 84 (1970). The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently abolished what is commonly referred to as the impact rule. In a complete reversal of existing precedent, the court, in Niederman v. Brodsky' held that physical impact was no longer a prerequisite to recovery where the plaintiff sustains injury solely from a fear of being struck. This decision overruled Bosley v. Andrews 2 and cast doubt on the present validity of Knaub v. Gotwalt.3 The plaintiff, Harry Niederman, alleged he was standing with his son on a sidewalk in Philadelphia. The defendant's negligently operated car skidded onto the sidewalk striking the boy, a pole, a fire hydrant and a newsstand. The plaintiff claimed that he almost immediately sustained a heart attack which resulted in a five week hospital confinement. 4 Since no impact was alleged, the lower court sustained the defendant's preliminary objections and reluc- 1.