O'Dell v. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad

496 P.2d 519, 6 Wash. App. 817, 1972 Wash. App. LEXIS 1247
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 1, 1972
Docket631-1
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 496 P.2d 519 (O'Dell v. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Dell v. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, 496 P.2d 519, 6 Wash. App. 817, 1972 Wash. App. LEXIS 1247 (Wash. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

Evans, J.

Plaintiff William O’Dell received serious personal injuries when he drove his motorcycle into the side of defendant railroad’s freight train at a grade crossing. Based upon an allegation that his injuries were caused by defendant’s failure to provide adequate safeguards and warnings, plaintiff recovered a judgment for $180,000. Defendant appeals.

In the early morning hours of August 28, .1965 there was a dense fog in the town of North Bend, Washington, and the streets were wet from an evening rain. This condition was not uncommon to the area. Plaintiff had worked as a bartender in North Bend until midnight, and at approximately 1 a.m. left a restaurant, where he had breakfast, to drive home on his motorcycle. He drove north on Ballarat Street, which is an arterial running in a north-south direction and intersects defendant’s railroad tracks at right angles approximately six blocks north of the business area of North Bend. His injuries were received when he struck a freight train as it was proceeding through the crossing.

The speed limit for motor vehicles on Ballarat Street is 25 miles per hour, and plaintiff testified he was driving his motorcycle 20 to 25 miles per hour as he approached the crossing. The estimates of visibility varied greatly. One witness, who was a passenger in a vehicle headed south on Ballarat Street and waiting as the train passed, estimated visibility at 10 to 15 feet because of the fog. On the other hand, a trainman in the caboose estimated visibility at *819 three or four ear lengths or approximately 150 feet. Plaintiff did not testify to visibility in terms of distance — only that, as he approached the intersection with his motorbike headlight on low beam, “he didn’t see or hear anything until all of a sudden he saw the train’s wheels”, and “because it was too late to do much of anything” he laid the motorbike over on its side and tried to get off to the right. His right leg was crushed and later had to be amputated above the knee.

The train contained 51 freight cars and a caboose. Although subsequent investigation failed to disclose the point of impact on the train, there is evidence from which the jury could conclude that he struck one of the cars near the middle of the train.

Ballarat Street, from the downtown area of North Bend to the railroad crossing, is straight and level except for a slight incline a few feet from the tracks. Plaintiff emphasizes the fact that there is a house located on the southwest corner of the intersection which partially obstructs vision to the west for northbound traffic on Ballarat Street. However, since the train was occupying the crossing at the time, the house obviously did not affect plaintiff’s view of the train.

The only warning at the crossing for vehicles traveling north on Ballarat is a standard crossbuck sign with a Scotch-lite facing located approximately 15 feet south of the first rail. The sign warned of the tracks but not of the presence of the train. Plaintiff had lived in the vicinity for years and was well acquainted with the crossing. Ballarat Street is maintained by the City of North Bend and there were lights mounted on poles for the length of the street. Lighting fixtures consisted of an incandescent bulb under a reflector, and the nearest lights to the grade crossing were approximately one-half block on either side. The jury could find that on the night in question the lights offered no illumination to the crossing.

The railroad crossing had been in existence since 1911 but in recent years the railroad moved its trains through *820 the crossing only once a night in each direction at widely varying times late in the evening. There was evidence of a prior accident which occurred at the same crossing 5 years before plaintiff’s accident, and plaintiff 'introduced evidence of three prior near-accidents and one subsequent accident.

Defendant assigns error to the failure of the trial court to grant its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative, for a new trial, contending there was a failure of proof of any cause of action against defendant, and that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. In support of this contention defendant relies primarily upon the well-recognized rule that when a train actually occupies a crossing, that in itself supersedes all other warnings and gives actual notice by its own presence. Schofield v. Northern Pac. Ry., 4 Wn.2d 512, 104 P.2d 324 (1940).

There is an exception to the above rule, however. In Hewitt v. Spokane P. & S. Ry., 66 Wn.2d 285, 402 P.2d 334 (1965), where the factual pattern was similar to the present case, the court stated at page 290:

But in applying the rule that a train while in the crossing supersedes all other warnings, it being a warning per se as in Schofield v. Northern Pac. R. Co., 4 Wn.2d 512, 104 P.2d 324, we additionally noted a persuasive exception to it. We said, that, where the situation is unusual or extrahazardous, or constitutes a situation in the nature of a trap, the ultimate decision becomes one of fact. Hendrickson v. Union Pac. R. Co., 17 Wn.2d 548, 136 P.2d 438, 161 A.L.R. 96; Cox v. Poison Logging Co., 18 Wn.2d 49, 138 P.2d 169.
All railroad crossings are dangerous — extremely so— but some are far more dangerous than others. Recognition of this truism brought forth the exception that, if unusual or extraordinarily dangerous circumstances prevail, the presence of the train in the crossing is not alone such a warning as to constitute reasonable care and prudence by the railroad under the circumstances. We recognized the exception as equal in status to its parent rule when we said:
Basically, appellant contends that there is no substantial evidence from which the jury might have con- *821 eluded that circumstances existed relative to the crossing at the time of the accident which constituted a trap, amounting to an exception to the general rule that the presence of the train was sufficient warning to respondent. If we were members of the jury, we might, fey weighing the evidence, reach the conclusion that no trap existed and that respondent was not deceived by the darkness, the black gondola oar, the absence of lights or flares, or by the topography of the crossing and the highway approaching it. However, this would be different from saying that there is no substantial evidence in the record from which the jurors could have concluded otherwise. Wood v. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pac. R. Co., 45 Wn.2d 601, 277 P.2d 345.

and at page 291:

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

Related

Madelynn M. Tapken v. Spokane County
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2019
Hurst v. Union Pacific Railroad Company
958 F.2d 1002 (Tenth Circuit, 1992)
Hurst v. Union Pacific Railroad
958 F.2d 1002 (Tenth Circuit, 1992)
Bordynoski v. Bergner
644 P.2d 1173 (Washington Supreme Court, 1982)
South v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.
290 N.W.2d 819 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1980)
Zwink v. Burlington Northern, Inc.
536 P.2d 13 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1975)
Evans v. Miller
507 P.2d 887 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1973)
Curtiss v. Young Men's Christian Ass'n
498 P.2d 330 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
496 P.2d 519, 6 Wash. App. 817, 1972 Wash. App. LEXIS 1247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odell-v-chicago-milwaukee-st-paul-pacific-railroad-washctapp-1972.