Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Ry. Co. v. Johnston

15 Ohio C.C. Dec. 41
CourtLucas Circuit Court
DecidedJune 13, 1903
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Ohio C.C. Dec. 41 (Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Ry. Co. v. Johnston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Lucas Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Ry. Co. v. Johnston, 15 Ohio C.C. Dec. 41 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1903).

Opinion

PARKER, J.

This proceeding is brought to obtain the reversal of a Judgment of the court of common pleas of this county. The action in the court below tvas by Johnston against the railway company, to recover for personal injuries and loss of property in consequence of an accident — a collision— happening to himself and horse and vehicle by a train on the railway company’s track in passing through this city, which accident he says was due to the negligence of the railway company. The accident happened upon July 31, 1901, at about 8 :15 or 8:20 P. M. standard time, at a crossing of the railroad over Central avenue, which is a street running east and west in 'the westerly part of the city. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad and the Michigan Central railroad at that place run parallel to one another, in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, the Lake Shore road at that point having one main track lying to the westerly of the tracks of the Michigan Central. The Michigan Central road at that point has two parallel tracks (main tracks) crossing over the street — the ^westerly of the Michigan Central tracks lying about sixty feet easterly from the Lake Shore track, and the easterly of the Michigan Central tracks lying perhaps seven or eight feet easterly from its westerly track. There is also, lying easterly of these tracks a distance of perhaps seven or eight feet, another track of the Michigan Central railroad ex[43]*43tending from the north side of Central avenue and parallel with the other tracks, a distance of perhaps a thousand feet, called a spur track, which does not cross the street.

Johnston, upon the occasion of this accident, was passing westward upon the street, riding in an open vehicle (a light wagon, one witness called it a Democrat wagon) driving one horse, being alone in the wagon and with no load excepting a buggy tongue which was placed in the body of the wagon and projected out behind for some distance. He was a man of about sixty-three years of age. His horse was a steady, tractable animal. It was in the dusk of the evening. There was some controversy as to just how dark it was, but it was dusk.

Before proceeding farther with. a statement of the facts, I should mention that the trial in the court below resulted in a verdict in favor of Mr.' Johnston for $4,000 and a judgment upon this verdict. At the close of the plaintiff’s testimony a motion was made to take the case from the jury. This motion was overruled. This motion was renewed after the testimony was all in on both sides, and was again overruled, and upon each occasion the railroad company excepted. A motion for a new trial, upon various grounds, was made, and it was also overruled. There was also a motion on the part of the railroad company for a verdict on the answers to certain special interrogatories, notwithstanding the general verdict against the company, and this motion was overruled. Error is predicated upon this action of the court, and it is urged that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. I shall refer to and discuss that proposition later, and it may be unnecessary to consider a variety of other questions presented.

The railroad train which came into collision with Mr. Johnston and 'his rig was proceeding from the northeast to the southwest over the tracks of the Lake Shore road. I do hot state the points of the compass exactly. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that these various lines of track ran in a direction east of north and west of south, but they cross the street at an angle somewhat acute — not at a right angle.

It is charged in the petition that the railroad company was negligent and its servants were negligent in that the train was running at a higher rate of speed than was consistent with the safety and rights of the public —those having a right to use the street at this point; also, that the defendant was negligent in that there was no headlight upon the locomotive and that no bell was rung or whistle blown, or other signal or warning-given to apprise Mr. Johnston of the approach of this train; and it is averred that the city of Toledo had before this time passed an ordinance requiring that railroad trains passing over streets in the city should not [44]*44be run at a higher rate than six. miles an hour, nor at a lower rate of speed than three miles an hour. The testimony of witnesses shows that on this occasion this train'was running at a rate of speed in excess of thirty miles per hour and perhaps as high as forty or forty-five miles per hour. It was conceded upon the trial by the railroad company that it was running at a rate of thirty miles an hour.

As to the other negligence alleged (negligence other than the high rate of speed) it is only necessary to say that the answers to the special interrógatories take those questions out of the case, the jury having found specifically that the headlight was burning, that the bell was rung, and that a crossing signal was given. I should mention also that it was charged that the company was negligent in. sounding the whistle,' in a very loud and violent way, just as the locomotive reached the crossing, and it is admitted and established by the evidence that the whistle was sounded at that point, or about that point, as a signal for a station (the wagon works station) about half or three-quarters of a mile farther to the southwest.

The case has been one of considerable doubt and difficulty to this court, and we have not been able to arrive at unanimity. The opinion which I shall announce will be that of a majority of the members of the court, Judge Haynes dissenting from,our conclusions.

That the railroad company was negligent in maintaining this high rate of speed at this point does not seem to us to be very seriously controverted; to state it fairly, I will say that it does not seem to us that it can be successfully controverted. While it has been held by our Supreme Court in the case of New York, C. & St. L. Ry. Co. v. Kistler, 66 Ohio St. 326 [64 N. E. Rep. 130], that a railroad company may run its trains at any speed it may desire, no matter how high, in order to accomplish the purposes of a railroad, in the open country where there are no circumstances to make it necessary for it to run at a low rate of speed or to slow up, yet it is unquestionably the law, we think, that through cities and villages and the suburbs of cities where it is thickly settled — where there are houses and other obstructions to those passing along the highway, so that they cannot readily observe approaching trains- — places where railroad trains are required to pass over the highway crossings, where there are no gates — as was the. case here — where there are no watchmen stationed to warn travelers upon the highway — as was the case here at this hour of the day — a railroad company may be > deemed and held by the verdict of a jury and by the law to be guilty of negligence if it maintains as high a rate of speed as thirty miles an hour. This subject is discussed in 2 Shearman & Red-field, Negligence Sec. 460, and the following sections, and we think the re-[45]*45suit of the discussion there and the authorities cited sustain what we have just announced.

In Grand Trunk Ry. Co. v. Ives, 144 U. S. 408 [12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 679], it is said in the syllabus that:

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Grand Trunk Railway Co. v. Ives
144 U.S. 408 (Supreme Court, 1892)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 Ohio C.C. Dec. 41, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lake-shore-michigan-southern-ry-co-v-johnston-ohcirctlucas-1903.