Galveston H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Wells

50 S.W.2d 247, 121 Tex. 310, 1932 Tex. LEXIS 121
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedApril 21, 1932
DocketNo. 5425.
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 50 S.W.2d 247 (Galveston H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Wells) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Galveston H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Wells, 50 S.W.2d 247, 121 Tex. 310, 1932 Tex. LEXIS 121 (Tex. 1932).

Opinion

PIERSON, J.

Mrs. Annie L. Wells, for her own' benefit and as next friend of and for the benefit of *248 ter minor son, Ray M. Wells, Jr., instituted this suit in tte district court of Ft. Bend county against tte Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway Company for recovery of damages in tte sum of $100,000 by reason of tte deatt of ter tusband, Ray M. Wells, in a collision at a public road crossing in Ft. Bend county on October 25, 1926, between a train and an automobile driven by tte deceased, Wells. It was alleged ttat tte deceased, Wells, was an employee of tte Gulf Production Company, a subscriber bolding a policy of compensation insurance issued by tte Gulf Casualty Company.

Tte deceased’s fatter and mother were made parties to tte suit, but ttey disclaimed any recovery to wtict ttey might be entitled. Tte Gulf Casualty Company was also made a party because of its right of subrogation to tte extent of tte amount of insurance assumed by it and awarded by tte Industrial Accident Board.

' The railway company answered by general demurrer, special exceptions, general denial, plea of contributory negligence on tte part of tte deceased, and that tte train which collided with tte deceased’s automobile was engaged in, and was an instrumentality of, interstate commerce, of wtict tte Congress of tte United States had assumed control through tte Interstate Commerce Act, tte Transportation Act of 1920, the Federal Employers’ liability Act, the-Federal Safety Appliance Act, and through tte Interstate Commerce Commission Act and amendments thereto; that, by reason of tte federal laws, any judgment recovered would be a burden on interstate commerce, and further ttat, by reason of tte federal laws and tte decisions of tte Supreme Court of tte United States, tte alleged negligence of Wells constituted a complete bar to any right of recovery by tis widow and child.

Tte testimony stows ttat tte train in question which struck Wells was an interstate train operated between New Orleans and San Francisco. It was scheduled to leave Houston on the day in question at 10:30 a. m., and left ttat point five minutes late. It reacted Missouri City about three minutes late. Missouri City, where Wells was struck, is situated about 15 miles west of Houston, and is not a scheduled stop for ttat train.

Tte railroad at-Missouri City runs practically east and west, and in approaching Missouri City going west it is perfectly straight for a number of miles. Paralleling tte railroad going into and through Missouri City is tte Old Spanish Trail, a paved highway passing between the railroad and tte business section of Missouri City. Just west of tte station and close to it a public highway crosses both the highway and the railroad practically at right angles. At the time of the accident, and for some time prior thereto, tte Old Spanish Trail was. closed for-repairs between Missouri City and Houston, and traffic was detoured from this road over tte dirt crossing in question. This crossing was used by school children going to and from school1 every day. According to tte evidence, this highway at tte time deceased was killed was used constantly by tte public generally. It was shown ttat quite a number of people lived north of tte railroad tracks at this point, and ttat in sending their children to school and in going to any point south Of tte railroad in tte vicinity of tte town tte dirt road crossing the" railroad was used a great deal. Tte testimony stows ttat a great amount of freight was handled at Missouri City for tte use and benefit of tte town and other points out of Missouri City on the south side of the railroad, including, not only tte town of Missouri City, but Blue Ridge, an oil field, in wtict operations tad been conducted for a long while, and were then being conducted by tte Gulf Production Company and otter large companies, and ttat such companies tad quite a lot of freight, express, and other matters- out of Missouri City, and ttat all traffic from tte oil field, as well as other territories south of tte city, had to go to the railroad station at Missouri City and return therefrom by crossing tte dirt road highway just west of tte railroad station.

It was further shown ttat tte railroad company tad arranged about tte station house, and especially on tte west and north sides thereof, parking space for the use of its customers and for trucks and wagons and persons having business with tte company, and ttat at and about tte depot building obstructions were present, and ttat these obstructions and tte depot house cut off tte view of trains approaching from tte east going west, and ttat such trains could-not be seen by persons west of tte station until ttey tad passed tte station house and were close on tte crossing, ttat a great number of passenger and freight trains passed through Missouri City each day going each way, and that many of the trains did not stop there on tte regular schedule.

Some witnesses who were close by at tte time of tte collision testified ttat ttey were in a position to have heard the bell ringing, and yet they did not tear tte bell ringing. Testimony was also introduced stowing ttat, after tte whistle was blown at the whistling, post, no more whistling for tte crossing, was done.

It was shown that Wells tad some business to transact with tte station agent. After transacting this business, he left the station a short time before tte train arrived, and went to tis automobile parked somewhere in tte rear of tte station a short distance from the crossing. No witness testified to having seen Wells or tte automobile after he started tis car and proceeded toward tte crossing, except tte witness Stevenson, tte *249 engineer, who did not testify as to the rate of ■speed the automobile was traveling. He testified in the following language: “I knew' that people might be coming from the back end of the depot over that crossing. I have seen people about there "before. * * * I knew that an automobile might be coming from around over there across this crossing.” He also testified that, when he saw the automobile, it was about 20 feet north of the track approaching the crossing, and it appeared to him that Wells was looking right squarely at the train. A west-bound passenger train running something like 50 miles per hour, and behind schedule time, struck the rear end of Wells’ automobile as he was leaving the station going south and attempting to cross the railroad track, and knocked the automobile and deceased a great distance, killing deceased instantly. There was testimony to the effect that the train, after hitting Wells, ran 350 or 400 yards before it stopped.

Walton, the train conductor, said that the train which killed Wells had a schedule time •of 38 miles per hour, but that it was late that particular day. Some other witnesses testified that it was running something like 50 miles or more per hour at the time. Harris, the general road foreman of motive power, who was riding in the engine at the time of the collision, testified that he saw the top of the automobile go by from north to south just as it came in front of the locomotive. In describing it, Harris used this language: “And just at that time the automobile slipped over the crossing just like that (indicating by a snap of the fingers).” He further testified in substance: “I would judge the weight of that train to be 800 tons, and with a train weighing that amount moving 50 miles an hour, it takes its required time with the brakes to stop it.

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Bluebook (online)
50 S.W.2d 247, 121 Tex. 310, 1932 Tex. LEXIS 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galveston-h-s-a-ry-co-v-wells-tex-1932.