Martin v. Texas & Pacific Railway Co.

317 S.W.2d 577, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2294
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 3, 1958
DocketNo. 15443
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 317 S.W.2d 577 (Martin v. Texas & Pacific Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. Texas & Pacific Railway Co., 317 S.W.2d 577, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2294 (Tex. Ct. App. 1958).

Opinion

DIXON, Chief Justice.

Joseph N. Martin was fatally injured June 5, 1956, when struck by a railroad motor car on the tracks of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company near the railroad’s double track intersection with Loop 12 and the Dallas-Ft. Worth Toll Road. Suit for damages was instituted by appellant Beatrice Martin, deceased’s widow, joined by deceased’s grown sons and daughters.

A jury returned a verdict in which it found that both the Railway Company and Martin were guilty of negligence. On issues of discovered peril, the findings were against the Railway Company and in favor of deceased except as to one issue, No. 21, which issue was answered to the effect that the operator of the railroad motor car after discovering and realizing that deceased was in a position of peril,, did not fail to use ordinary care in the use of all the means at hand to avoid hitting deceased. Based on this jury verdict judgment was rendered in favor of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company that appellants take nothing.

Many of the facts are undisputed. Deceased, 69 years of age at the time of his death, was employed by his sons, who operate Martin & Martin Foundation Drillers. They were engaged in construction work in connection with the overpass where the toll road passes over the double railroad tracks and Loop 12 west of the City of Dallas. The work had ceased at 12:00 o’clock that day. One of Martin’s sons-in-law, Jones, was waiting to take him home in a pickup truck. Martin had his lunch kit in his hand and his coat over his arm. According to his son-in-law, Martin came up on the railroad right of way dump from the south side, crossed the south set of railroad tracks, walked straight east between the two sets of tracks for thirty or forty steps, then angled toward the north set of tracks, and finally stepped across the south rail of the north set of tracks into the path of the oncoming motor car. The railroad motor car, also traveling in an easterly direction, was moving behind Martin. Martin had taken one step over the south rail of the north set of tracks when the car hit him, knocking him down, and inflicting injuries which proved to be fatal. The accident occurred about 2 :00 o’clock P.M.

In their first two points on appeal appellants contend that the elements of discovered peril were conclusively shown in deceased’s favor as a matter of law, or were shown by the great weight and overwhelming preponderance of the evidence.

We are unable to agree with appellants. The operator of the railroad car testified that he was employed as a maintainer of signal equipment, was alone at the time traveling eastward, making his quarterly inspection of his territory. He was check[580]*580ing the condition of wires and other equipment. He testified that the best way to check the signal equipment is to check to the rear of the motor car, which he was doing, though he was frequently glancing forward.

The car was on the north set of tracks , traveling approximately ten to fifteen miles per hour. When the operator first saw him Martin was 250 to 300 yards away standing by one of the columns of •the overpass. The next time the operator saw him Martin was in between the two rails of the south set of tracks about 100 feet from the car, walking eastward at a slight angle. The operator continued to watch deceased, saw him continue to angle across the tracks, so then the operator began to reduce his speed. However at this point the operator still did not consider that deceased was in any danger, for deceased was not in the path of the motor car. He soon was walking in the space, .13 feet wide, between the two sets of tracks. When the car was about 75 feet ■ from deceased, the operator disengaged the belt which operated the car and started racing the motor. He did this to attract the attention of deceased, as the racing motor makes an “awful lot of noise”. In his experience the operator had observed that such a noise will attract the attention of people 175 feet away, and can be heard within four hundred feet. When the car was about fifty feet from deceased, the operator began applying the brakes. As he approached Martin he slid the car wheels about 25 feet on the tracks. In addition to the foregoing actions the operator began “hollering” at deceased when he was about seventy-five feet away. At this time Martin was in between the two sets of tracks. The operator could have applied the brakes further back but says that when he “realized that the man might possibly walk in the path of the motor car I applied the brakes as hard as I could and I tried to stop; I done everything I could to stop.”

In the face of the operator’s testimony as above outlined which testimony the jury was entitled to consider and believe, we certainly cannot say that the evidence' conclusively shows as a matter of law that appellee Railroad was liable under the rule of discovered peril. The operator did use certain means to avoid hitting deceased: he raced the car’s motor thus making a loud noise, and he shouted warnings, and he applied the brakes in an effort to stop the motor car. Appellants emphasize the testimony to the effect that if the operator had applied his brakes sooner he might have avoided hitting deceased. This is obviously true, but, standing alone, it is not inconsistent with the jury’s answer to Special Issue No. 21 where the jury found that after he discovered and realised the perilous position of deceased, the operator did not fail to use ordinary care in the use of all the means at hand to avoid hitting deceased.

Pertinent here is the holding in Tumlinson v. San Antonio Brewing Association, Tex.Civ.App., 170 S.W.2d 620, 622, and we quote from the opinion in that case: “It is not sufficient in itself to establish a party’s liability under the doctrine, to demonstrate that had said party adopted a certain course of action, the injury or collision would not have occurred. Unless it can also be said that a person of ordinary prudence, under the same or similar circumstances, would have taken the action, liability under the doctrine does not attach. Despite various applications of the doctrine of discovered peril and rules similar thereto, the test of ordinary care as the measure of duty seems to be established without dissent.”

Our Supreme Court has said that the conduct of one who, after discovering and realizing the peril of another, fails to use ordinary care to avoid injuring such person, is very nearly the equivalent, though it is not the exact equivalent, of deliberate and intentional misconduct. . Whited v. Powell, 155 Tex. 210, 285 S.W.2d 364, [581]*581366. We certainly cannot say that as a matter of law the operator’s conduct in this case amounted to such a lack of ordinary care as the Supreme Court described in the above cited case, or that the jury’s answer to Special Issue No. 21 was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.

Appellants’ first two points on appeal are overruled.

In their third point appellants contend that they were entitled to judgment based on the jury’s answers to certain other issues as well as the issues relative to discovered peril. There is no merit to this contention. While it is true that the jury made findings of negligence against the railroad, it also found in answering Issue No. 23 that Martin was negligent in that he failed to keep a proper lookout. This latter finding is well supported by the evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
317 S.W.2d 577, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-texas-pacific-railway-co-texapp-1958.