Bejma v. Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad

149 N.W. 588, 160 Wis. 527, 1915 Wisc. LEXIS 133
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided November 17, 1914·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

Tbe following opinions were filed November 17, 1914:

ViNJE, J.

Tbe jury found that plaintiff traveled a well-beaten path which connected with Eirst avenue about twenty feet south of the intersection of the defendant’s right of way with the south line of the right of way of the Chicago &. Northwestern Railway, thence northeasterly to and upon the right of way of the latter road across the trestle and some distance beyond, when he again entered the right of way of the defendant, proceeded up the embanlonent and south to the place where the fire was, and from thence to the track, where he jumped onto the moving train and rode for a short distance and was injured in jumping off or immediately thereafter. They also found that defendant’s failure to fence where plaintiff first entered its right of way occasioned in whole or in part his injury, and that it was also occasioned in whole or in part by defendant’s failure to fence where he entered its right of way the second time. Eor we must assume that in finding numbered 4 they found something additional to what was contained in finding numbered 3, and that such additional fact was that the failure to fence at the place of the second entry occasioned in whole or in part plaintiff’s injury. They had already so found as to the failure to fence at the point of first entry. The court in its charge to them speaks of the two entries made by the plaintiff, and it is a fact, so conceded by counsel for plaintiff in his brief and so found by the jury, that after plaintiff entered defendant’s right of way he left it and went for some distance upon the right of way of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, and then a second time entered the defendant’s right of way and remained thereon till he was injured. The question, therefore, arises whether [532] or not under the facts found and the evidence in this case there is any support for the finding of the jury that plaintiff’s injury was occasioned in whole or in part by his first entry upon defendant’s right of way. It is doubtful if in any case where there are two separate entries at different places upon a right of way by the same individual the first entry can be said to have occasioned in whole or in part the injury sustained by reason of remaining' on the right of way after the second entry. In this case it is quite clear that the first entry had no part in causing the injury, for plaintiff said he was going to a pond on the east side of defendant’s right of way some distance south of the trestle, and that he walked north for the purpose of crossing under the trestle; that as he came to the east side he saw some boys playing around a fire on defendant’s right of way,, and so he re-entered the right of way of the defendant and proceeded to the place of the fire, and later went upon the track and was hurt. No harm came to him by reason of his first entry. Assuming that a right of way is in all places a zone of danger, he had passed out of defendant’s zone of danger when he entered that of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway right of way. Had he not re-entered he would not have been hurt by defendant. ' Under the evidence in this case plaintiff would have-made the second entry even if he had not made the first. He wanted to cross under the trestle. He would undoubtedly have gone twenty feet further north on Eirst avenue to do so had there been a fence at the place of the first entry. And had he gone north on Eirst avenue and then to the east side of the trestle along the right of way of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, he would have entered defendant’s right of way just as he did if he wanted to go to play with the boys at the fire.. So under the facts of the case the first entry has no causal connection with his injury. Suppose he had entered defendant’s right of way by climbing a legal fence, had left it again, and then had entered at a different place where' [533] there was no fence but where one was required by the statute. Could it reasonably be claimed that a recovery could be defeated by the fact that he had first entered where there was a legal fence ? It 'seems not. The converse of the proposition is equally true as applied to the facts in this case. And it must be so at least in every case where the second entry would be made independent of the first entry.

This brings us to the question of whether or not it was defendant’s duty to fence where the second entry was made by plaintiff, namely, on the line of intersection between defendant’s right of way and the south side of the right of way of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. It may be urged that the right of way of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway is also the right of way of the defendant within the lines of their intersection. Whatever view might be taken of that 'proposition in a case of a grade crossing, we think it quite clear that where one road crosses another by an overhead trestle the elevated road exercises no control over the surfade of the right of way of the lower road-except such as is necessary for the support of its own roadbed, and that in law as well as fact there are two separate rights of way within their lines of intersection, the one above the other, each, so far as the fencing statute is concerned, being independent of the other. The statute (sec. 1810) requires that—

“Every railroad corporation operating any railroad shall erect and maintain on both sides of any portion of its road (depot grounds excepted) good and sufficient fences . . . and shall construct and maintain cattle-guards at all highway crossings and connect their fences therewith to prevent cattle and other domestic animals from going on such railroad;-provided, that the provisions of this section requiring cattle-guards shall not apply to any crossing located in a city or incorporated village.”

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Bejma v. Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad, 149 N.W. 588, 160 Wis. 527, 1915 Wisc. LEXIS 133 (Wis. 1914).

149 N.W. 588 (Bejma v. Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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