Collett v. Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast Railroad

181 S.E. 207, 51 Ga. App. 637, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 429
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedAugust 15, 1935
Docket24267
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 181 S.E. 207 (Collett v. Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Collett v. Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast Railroad, 181 S.E. 207, 51 Ga. App. 637, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 429 (Ga. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

MacIntyre, J.

-Mrs. A. E. Collett filed suit against the defendant railroad company, asking for damages on account of the death of her husband, alleged to have been caused by the negligent operation of one of its passenger-trains. Petitioner’s action as amended was stated in two counts. The first count, after making the usual allegations as to jurisdiction, alleged that the “husband of the petitioner was struck and killed by a locomotive and train being operated, and belonging to the defendant,” and that the accident occurred on May 21, 1933, “at or near four o’clock a. m. at night;” that “husband of petitioner was struck as 'aforesaid and killed on and at a public crossing . . within the corporate limits of the city of Manchester, said public crossing being where Franklin street, a public street, and leading thoroughfare of the city of Manchester, passes over and across the line and railroad track of the defendant;” that “said locomotive and train was being operated and was being run .at a high, dangerous, reckless, and negligent rate of speed, at the rate of speed of from 35 to 45 miles per hour as the same approached said crossing, and advanced upon and passed over said crossing, and at the time such locomotive and train struck and killed the husband of petitioner;” that the agents and servants of the defendant in charge of the train and the engineer “ failed to ring and failed to'toll the bell on same as it approached and went upon said public street and crossing as aforesaid, and same did approach and did go upon said crossing within the corporate limits of said city of Manchester without ringing and tolling the bell and without giving warning of its approach;” that said engineer failed to keep and maintain a constant and vigilant lookout along the track ahead of said engine as it approached the crossing; that said engineer and agents and servants of said defendant failed to have said train under proper control when approaching said crossing in ’order to avoid doing injury to persons or property on said public crossing or within fifty feet of said crossing; that “the night was dark and smoky,” and that at said crossing the city of Manchester maintained an electric-light twenty-five feet above ground for the purpose of shedding light on said Franklin street at the crossing, and that on account of the darkness and smoke and on account of the electric light, “it was impossible for said husband of petitioner to know that any train was approaching as he approached and walked on same,” and that “when he entered upon said public [639]*639crossing in said Franklin street the aforesaid passenger-train of the defendant came suddenly upon her husband . . without warning or notice of its approach and running at said high and negligent and reckless rate of speed as aforesaid, and struck her said husband while he was on said crossing en route to his home and before he could avoid being struck by said engine and train and while endeavoring to avoid being struck, and when he was so struck he was thrown, knocked, hit, and dragged approximately twenty yards along said track;” that said engineer had no objects in the way to obscure his view or sight of her said husband, and that he could have seen her husband as he approached and entered upon said public crossing for more than one thousand feet before the engine' arrived at said crossing if he had used due care in keeping a vigilant lookout ahead; and that by reason of the above acts of negligence the defendant company was liable to her in a named sum.

The second count was to the effect that deceased was struck at a point near Franklin street as it crossed defendant’s tracks, “and within 150 feet of said crossing;” that the point where deceased was struck was a place “where many people use same day and night.” The substantial allegations of negligence in the first count are contained in the second count.

The case proceeded to trial. Plaintiff introduced evidence, and, upon motion of defendant at the close of plaintiff’s evidence, the court granted a nonsuit. As we view the case the grant of a non-suit was proper for two reasons: First, that the evidence for the plaintiff failed entirely to support the substantial allegations of the petition, and, second, that it is apparent from the testimony, giving plaintiff every benefit of doubt, that the deceased, by the use of ordinary care, could have avoided the consequences of the defendant’s negligence. The evidence tended to show that on the morning of May 21, 1933, the deceased was found by his wife in a coal-house behind his residence with a number of wounds on his head. This was sometime in the early morning. He was not dead, but was unconscious. The railroad-track of defendant ran north and south to the side of the home of the plaintiff, the residence being some 175 feet from the Franklin-street crossing. The coal-house in which the deceased was found was located between the tracks and his residence. The distance from his residence to the railroad-track was some 200 or more feet, and the coal-house was some 30 [640]*640feet from the railroad-track. Plaintiffs testimony was that her husband was not at home during the particular Saturdajr night in question; that she did not see him from Saturday afternoon until he was found Sunday morning. Deceased when found had lacerations on his head and breast and had bled considerably about the head. Cinders and trash were found in some of the wounds. Jewel Collett testified that after she found her father in the coal-house, she “found a large puddle of blood up on the railroad; . . • the puddle of blood was on the side of the railroad-track next to my house. I also found a cigarette there and it was in the blood.” Testifying as to the distance from the crossing where the pool of blood was located, she said, “I would say about 60 or 70 feet from the crossing. I only saw one pool of blood.” James Anderson testified, that he went up to the railroad, which was on a fill, and found two puddles of blood, Collett’s cap, and some money. One puddle of blood was about 3 feet from the rails and one puddle of blood about 5 feet from the rails. The cap was 17 feet north from the pool of blood, away from the crossing. He measured the distance from Franklin-street crossing to the pool of blood, and it was 145 feet north of the crossing. He further testified that he found between the coal-house and the railroad where somebody had slid down the fill, from the pool of blood that was going from the track to the coal-house. With reference to the operations of the train, Mrs. E. W. Jones testified, that she left Manchester on the train between three and four o’clock for Atlanta; that after leaving the city the train had to cross Franklin street; that the whistle of the train was blown after the train was upon Franklin-street crossing; that she did not hear any bell being rung or any other warning given except as above testified tó, and that the train was moving very fast, and that the engineer could see about 500 yards down the track before it reached the crossing. Mrs. Collett testified that she estimated-the speed of the train to be 30 or 40 miles per hour. This was substantially the testimony relied upon by plaintiff for a recovery.

The plaintiff’s petition was based upon the theory that her husband was at the time of Ms injuries a user of a public street crossing the tracks of defendant railroad company, at a place where he had a right to be, and that the defendant company failed to exercise duties owed to him as such, such as failing to give warning by [641]*641ringing a bell or

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Bluebook (online)
181 S.E. 207, 51 Ga. App. 637, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 429, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collett-v-atlanta-birmingham-coast-railroad-gactapp-1935.