Carlisle v. Davenport & Muscatine Railway Co.

188 Iowa 676
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMarch 15, 1920
StatusPublished

This text of 188 Iowa 676 (Carlisle v. Davenport & Muscatine Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carlisle v. Davenport & Muscatine Railway Co., 188 Iowa 676 (iowa 1920).

Opinion

Preston, J.

Several grounds of negligence were alleged in the petition, but those submitted were:

“That, on the 8th day of November, 1913, between 9 and 10 o’clock P. M., the plaintiff’s intestate, Albert Dollarhide, was at a station upon said line of railway, called Mel-pine Station, for the purpose off becoming a passenger upon one of the cars of said company; and, while upon the platform of said station, he was struck by the defendant’s car, and received injuries which caused his death; that the plaintiff’s intestate was free from contributory negligence; ana [677]*677that the defendant was negligent, in that the car which struck the plaintiff’s intestate was, at the time, being operated at a reckless rate of speed, to wit, at a rate of 40 to 50 miles per hour; and that the defendant was negligent in that, by the signals given by the motorman upon said car, the deceased was led to believe that said car was going to stop at said station; and that said car approached at said high and dangerous rate of speed, and deceased was struck by the front part of said car and killed.”

Appellant states in argument that they desire to submit the case on two propositions only. It is contended that the evidence does not show that defendant was guilty of any negligence, and that the record conclusively shows that plaintiff’s intestate was guilty of contributory negligence. It is also thought that the verdict is contrary to Instruction No. 12, and that, under the evidence and the instruction, the verdict should have been for the defendant. Instruction No. 12 reads thus:

“You are instructed that it was the duty of Albert Dol-larhide, after his signal to the motorman, if he gave one, was answered, to step back from the track to a place of safety, if, under the circumstances, he could reasonably have done so. Due care for his own safety required this of him. If you find from the evidence that his signal to the motorman was answered, and the answer was heard by him when the car was a sufficient distance from him to have enabled him to retreat to a place of safety, and that he negligently failed to do so, then you should find that he \yas guilty of contributory negligence, and your verdict should be for the defendant.”

No complaint is made as to the form of the instruction. A discussion of the evidence and the holding that the evidence was such as to make it a jury question in regard to the alleged contributory negligence, will dispose of the objection in regard to the instruction. Appellant’s theory [678]*678■of the case appears to be somewhat different on this appeal from what' it was on the first hearing. . Appellant’s argument is directed almost entirely to the question of plaintiff’s contributory negligence, while appellee argues more the question of defendant’s negligence. On the former appeal, 178 Iowa 224, it was determined that the evidence was sufficient to take the case to the jury on defendant’s alleged negligence. The evidence in that regard is substantially the same on this appeal. Aside from that, we are satisfied, from an examination of the evidence on this appeal, that the question of defendant’s negligence was properly submitted to the jury, so that we deem it unnecessary to review the evidence on that point. There was some discussion in regard to the question of contributory negligence on the former appeal, but it is not presented now in just the same manner as it was before. On the former appeal, the court directed a verdict for the defendant, at the close of the plaintiff’s evidence, and the case was determined without the evidence for the defendant. The evidence is set out, to some extent, on the former appeal, but we deem it necessary, in view of the argument now presented, to set out some additional facts bearing on the question of contributory negligence, which we shall attempt to do without repetition.

Melpine Station is 11 or 12 miles from Muscatine. The track at that point runs generally east and west, though not exactly so. A public highway crosses the railway at this point, at right angles. The only building is the booth for the protection of. passengers which stands on the north side of the railway track, and immediately adjacent to the east side of the highway. The booth was 8yz feet from the track, sy2 feet deep, and 9% feet in length. The side next ■ the track was open. The floor of the booth was continued to the north rail. There were no planks between the rails in front of the booth, but, on the opposite side of the track, [679]*679there was a platform for tbe use of passengers. There is a wing cattle guard fence along the east end of the platform. The station is at the west end of a curve, which begins about 450 feet to the east. There is something of a cut through which the railway passes, at a point about 1,200 feet east of the station. There is a 1 per cent grade from the east to the west. Appellant contends that a car approaching the station is at all times in full view of a person standing upon the platform, for a distance of about half a mile east, but appellees contend that there is more or less obstruction to the view. Some of the witnesses testify that it'was a cold, dark, cloudy night, and that there was a heavy wind blowing from the northwest. Others say that it was not very dark. The headlight was shining brightly, and the evidence shows that it would temporarily blind a person at the booth, after the car had straightened around the curve, but before that, the middle of the ray of light would strike 78 feet south of the station, when the car is 600 feet distant, 19 feet, when it was 300 feet, nearly 9 feet, at a distance of 200 feet, 2 feet, at a distance of 100 feet, and 6 inches at a distance of 50 feet, so that it would be flashed on a person at the station suddenly. A witness testifies that, when the light is thrown upon the platform at the station, it is thrown gradually, as the car rounds the curve. The outer rays at first come upon the platform, and then the stronger rays from the center of the reflection. However, the lights in the car would show from the side, at certain places. Passengers on the car and others, one of such others being a party in an automobile, who was racing with the interurban car, gave testimony as to the lights, whistles, speed of the interurban, etc. There is some conflict in the testimony at some points on these matters; but it seems to be undisputed that the motorman gave the station whistle signal at the whistling post, about 1,500 feet east of the station] and the evidence tends to show that thereafter, when [680]*680approaching the station at a distance variously estimated at from 200 to 400 feet, the whistle was sounded. As a summary of the testimony of one witness, he says:

“Q. About 1,500- feet east of the station, at the regular whistling place, you heard one long blast of the whistle; then, within 200 or 300 feet of the station, you heard two; then, when the car was passing the station, or after it had passed the station, you heard three short blasts; and then, before the motorman backed the car back to the station, you heard three more short blasts? A. Yes.”

The car stopped at Melpine for passengers only on signal.^ There is evidence from which the jury could have found that deceased gave the night signal, or was in the act of giving it, when he was struck. He was familiar with the surroundings, and the method of giving the signal, and left his home near by, with matches. When he left home, he was in full possession of his faculties; was not ill or excited; went as he normally would have gone.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Artz v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. R.
34 Iowa 153 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1871)
Hinken v. Iowa Central Railway Co.
66 N.W. 882 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1896)
Kern v. Des Moines City Railway Co.
118 N.W. 451 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1908)
Wilson v. Illinois Central Railroad
129 N.W. 340 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1911)
Landis v. Inter-Urban Railway Co.
166 Iowa 20 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1914)
Lundien v. Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern Railway Co.
166 Iowa 85 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1914)
Carlisle v. Davenport & Muscatine Railway Co.
178 Iowa 224 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1916)
Karr v. Milwaukee Light, Heat & Traction Co.
113 N.W. 62 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1907)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
188 Iowa 676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carlisle-v-davenport-muscatine-railway-co-iowa-1920.