Blair v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad

390 S.W.2d 178, 1965 Ky. LEXIS 345
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedMay 7, 1965
StatusPublished

This text of 390 S.W.2d 178 (Blair v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blair v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad, 390 S.W.2d 178, 1965 Ky. LEXIS 345 (Ky. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

MONTGOMERY, Judge.

John Blair sued the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, Russell Beshears, administrator of the estate of James Carl Morgan, deceased, and Ashley Franklin. Blair appeals from a judgment based on the verdict for the defendants, now appellees.

Blair was the engineer on an L & N train. The truck of Ashley Franklin, driven by James Carl Morgan, collided with the train at a point where Kentucky Highway 502 crosses the L & N tracks near the Coiltown tipple in Hopkins County. Morgan was killed. Blair claims that he was injured.

Appellant’s case against Franklin and Beshears, the administrator, is based on the alleged negligence of Morgan, the truck driver, in failing to see the train and in not stopping the truck. His claim against the railroad company is based on the alleged negligence of a fellow worker in failing to inform him of the approaching vehicle. See Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S. C.A. § 51 et seq.

On appeal Blair argues that he was entitled to a directed verdict and that the court erred in the instructions given.

The collision occurred about 10:30 a. m., on November 21, 1958. The weather was clear. The two-ton truck, loaded with coal, was being driven northwardly. The train, consisting of two diesel locomotives and one car, was moving forward in a westward direction at four to six miles per hour. The truck and front engine of the train collided at the intersection of the tracks and highway, with the truck striking the left side of the front engine.

The jury was instructed on the issues of negligence of the respective parties, as well as on the issue of damages claimed to have been sustained by appellant. The verdict was in favor of the defendants, now appel-lees. There was no indication as to whether the verdict constituted a finding of no liability or of no damages, or both.

Appellant contends that there is strict liability on the part of a driver who runs into the side of a moving train on a highway crossing. He says that the failure, if any, of the engineer to give a warning was as a matter of law not the proximate cause of the accident because the truck driver was given more immediate and imperative notice by the obvious presence of the train itself. Appellant relies on Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Mischel’s Adm’x, 272 Ky. 295, 114 S.W.2d 115; Chesapeake & O. R. Co. v. Switzer, 275 Ky. 834, 122 S.W.2d 967; Illinois Central R. Co. v. Maxwell, 292 Ky. 660, 167 S.W.2d 841; and Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Branson, Ky., 267 S.W.2d 945. Those cases hold that the presence of the train standing on or moving over the track across the highway becomes a condition which is in itself notice to the driver of the obstruction and eliminates the need of giving of notice by the railroad company. Such presence is not deemed negligence or an effective cause of the accident.

The cases cited are inapplicable because the train here was approaching the [180]*180crossing at the same time as was the truck. They reached it almost simultaneously. The truck collided with the side of the front unit of the train. As the truck was approaching the crossing, the train was neither moving over it nor standing still on it. Thus, it was not a condition under the principle of the cases cited. This fact distinguishes this case from the cases cited by appellant and justifies the denial of a directed verdict as to the truck driver’s estate and to the owner of the truck.

Appellant sought to hold the railroad liable under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 et seq., by an allegation that the locomotive fireman failed to keep a proper lookout for motor vehicles and failed to give appellant, as the engineer, timely warning of the approaching truck. Although appellant argues the negligence of his fellow employees and seeks to include alleged negligence of the train conductor, the record does not include any pleading which justifies such argument. An amended complaint containing an allegation of negligence by reason of the conductor’s failure to keep a proper lookout was offered and withdrawn. Thus, appellant is confined to the alleged negligence of the fireman in failing to keep a proper lookout and to warn the engineer.

On cross-examination appellant admitted that the fireman kept a proper lookout as follows:

“200. I will ask you whether or not the fireman was keeping a look-out at the time you approached that crossing?
“A. Yes, sir.
“201. Was he keeping a proper lookout?
“A. Yes, sir, I think so.”

In addition there was testimony that the train was traveling slowly and that the fireman first saw the truck when the front part of the engine was about thirty or thirty-five feet from the crossing. At that time the truck was about two hundred and fifty feet from the crossing. At that point the fireman’s view was partially obscured by trees and it was not apparent whether the truck would stop or continue across the tracks. In a matter of seconds the fireman determined that the truck was traveling too fast for it to stop, called to the engineer to stop, and appellant immediately applied the brakes in emergency. This evidence, together with the appellant’s admission of a proper lookout on the part of the fireman, was sufficient to deny appellant a directed verdict against L & N for failure of the fireman to keep a proper lookout and to give a timely warning.

Instructions IV, VI, and VII were to the effect that it was the duty of appellant, L & N, and its servants to ring the bell or sound the whistle and to stop the locomotive as soon as possible to prevent the collision, and that appellant could not recover if contributorily negligent in this respect. KRS 277.190 makes it the duty of the railroad to provide each locomotive with bell and whistle and to ring the bell or sound the whistle, “outside of cities, at a distance of at least fifty rods from the place where the track crosses upon the same level any highway or crossing at which a signboard is required to be maintained, and the bell shall be rung or the whistle sounded continuously or alternately until the engine has reached the highway or crossing.”

Appellant contends that it was error to give these instructions on the theory that the presence of the train was in itself notice of the obstruction to the driver, thus relieving L & N and its servants, including appellant, of the necessity of warning by bell or whistle. As has been pointed out, the Mischel, Switzer, and Branson cases, on which appellant relies, have been distinguished from the situation in this case.

The evidence was conflicting as to whether any warning was given by a bell or whistle. Two witnesses testified that either no warning was given or none was heard. Thus, appellant was not entitled to [181]*181a directed verdict on this conflicting issue as to the estate of the truck driver and the truck owner.

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Related

Redding v. Independent Contracting Co.
333 S.W.2d 269 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1960)
Chesapeake & O. Ry. Co. v. Switzer
122 S.W.2d 967 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1938)
Trent v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.
299 S.W. 556 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1927)
Vandivier v. Tye
21 S.W.2d 1006 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1929)
Fryrear v. Kentucky I. Terminal R. Co., Inc.
220 S.W.2d 546 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1949)
Louisville N. R. Co. v. Mischel's Adm'x
114 S.W.2d 115 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1938)
Illinois Central R. Co. v. Maxwell
167 S.W.2d 841 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1943)
Hilsenrad v. Bowling
166 S.W.2d 847 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1942)
Wallis v. Illinois Central Railroad Co.
56 S.W.2d 715 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1933)
Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Galloway's Adm'x.
267 S.W.2d 90 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1954)
Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Branson
267 S.W.2d 945 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1954)
Simons v. Allen
309 S.W.2d 775 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1958)

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Bluebook (online)
390 S.W.2d 178, 1965 Ky. LEXIS 345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blair-v-louisville-nashville-railroad-kyctapp-1965.