Pennington v. Southern Pacific Co.

304 P.2d 22, 146 Cal. App. 2d 605, 65 A.L.R. 2d 690, 1956 Cal. App. LEXIS 1509
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 5, 1956
DocketCiv. 16675
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 304 P.2d 22 (Pennington v. Southern Pacific Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennington v. Southern Pacific Co., 304 P.2d 22, 146 Cal. App. 2d 605, 65 A.L.R. 2d 690, 1956 Cal. App. LEXIS 1509 (Cal. Ct. App. 1956).

Opinions

KAUFMAN, J.

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment in favor of defendants in a wrongful death action. Plaintiffs are the widow and five minor children of Santford Pennington, who was killed on August 25, 1952, when the truck which he was operating was struck by respondent Southern Pacific Company’s train on the Fair Oaks Avenue railroad crossing in Sunnyvale. The railroad company and two of its employees were charged in the complaint with negligence in the management and operation of the train, and the company was charged with maintaining its crossing in a dangerous and defective condition in that the crossing protection was inadequate, the crossing was obstructed, and that the physical character of the crossing rendered it hazardous and unsafe. The other respondent, herein, Schuckl and Company, which operated a canning company near the Fair Oaks Avenue crossing was charged with having negligently caused this crossing to be dangerous and unsafe by piling boxes and installing certain appurtenances and structures, and by causing great noise in the vicinity of the crossing.

All defendants denied negligence and alleged contributory negligence on the part of plaintiff’s decedent. Lester J. Weese, a defendant, the fireman on respondent’s train, filed a cross-complaint for his injuries received in the crash, against respondent Schuckl and Company and against Disposal Service, Inc., the employer of decedent Pennington. He alleged that the cannery had so negligently operated its property as to obstruct the crossing rendering its physical character dangerous, defective and unsafe, and also charged negligence in the operation of the truck of decedent’s employer.

The jury returned a verdict against plaintiffs and in favor of defendants Southern Pacific Company and Schuckl and Company, and a verdict in favor of cross-complainant Weese against Disposal Service, Inc. and Schuckl and Company The action against the individual defendants, J. R. Johnston and Lester Weese, the engineer and fireman, were dismissed by plaintiffs.

The accident occurred at about 8 :20 p. m., daylight saving time, when Santford Pennington, an employee of Disposal [608]*608Service, Inc., was hauling a load of waste material from Schuckl and Company’s plant. Fair Oaks Avenue is a paved street running north and south. The railroad tracks run east and west, and there are six parallel sets of tracks at this crossing. The tracks were numbered from south to north on the map used at trial. Track 4 is the main line track, east bound, while track 5 is the main line westbound track. Tracks 1 and 2 are spur tracks; 3 and 6 are drill tracks. The main line tracks run straight for a distance of 548 feet east of the crossing, then curve to the north. Schuckl and Company operates' its cannery adjacent to the railroad tracks just south of the crossing. The main building is on the west side of Fair Oaks Avenue, and on the east side is a shed and box yard. An overhead conveyor extends above and across the street about 15 feet south of track number 1.

The crossing is protected by Griswold type crossing signals erected at the northwest and southeast corners. These signals consist of two illuminated crossarms, an illuminated stop sign the size of an ordinary boulevard stop sign, a bell, and two red lights 8 inches in diameter. When activated the stop sign swings down to face traffic, the bell rings, and the red lights flash alternately. These signals were set to operate automatically whenever a westbound train reached a point 3,000 feet east of the San Jose side of the crossing, and operate continuously until the train had passed to the San Francisco side of the crossing. The two crossing signals are separately wired and operate independently. Power is supplied from the P. G. and E. power lines, and in case of power failure from storage batteries. If all current failed, a weight would be released causing the stop sign to swing into place, but respondent’s engineer was not certain whether or not the lights and bell would function in the last situation. There was testimony that respondent railroad had checked the signals on the morning of August 25, 1952, the day of the accident, and that they were then functioning properly. Three hours after the accident they were checked and found to be in proper working order. They were checked at a point near the crossing, and not at the point 3,000 feet distant, where they would be first activated by a train. However, there was testimony that another train coming from the north which passed later on the evening of the accident, activated the signals.

Respondent’s fireman Weese and engineer Johnston, as well as a train passenger Lambert, and James, a truckdriver, [609]*609all positively testified that the crossing signals were working just before the accident. A truckdriver, Williams, testified that he had stopped his truck on the north or opposite side of the crossing and was walking toward the cannery restaurant when he heard the bells start to ring and heard the train whistle. Both crossing signals were operating. He saw Pennington’s truck approaching under the conveyor. It proceeded onto the tracks at about eight miles per hour. He saw it collide with the train. It had stopped at no time while he was watching it. He first saw the train about 500 feet distant. He heard only two whistles from the train, and then for the first time observed the truck approaching.

The truck driver James, who was loading boxes at Schuckl and Company, saw Pennington’s truck drive diagonally across the road and start toward the crossing going very slowly. At about that time the south crossing signal began to operate. After the signal began working and he saw the truck approaching, he heard the train whistle, and saw the train at the corner of the pile of boxes. He heard the crash of the collision. He had not continued to watch the truck from the time he had observed it near the crossing. He had heard the crossing bell before the sound of the train whistle. All of these observations occurred within a few seconds, possibly 30, he said.

The fireman Weese stated that he was riding on the left hand side of the cab as the train rounded the curve between 200 and 300 yards east of the crossing, at a speed of between 60 and 65 miles per hour. It was dark. The train in accordance with company rules sounded its whistle one mile from the crossing, then again at about one thousand feet from the crossing. He saw the truck at track number 2 when the engine rounded the curve onto the straight track. There were boxes piled up just south of the right of way to the east of the crossing. Every time he had been on this run, he had seen the boxes piled up in that area to the height shown in a photographic exhibit. The boxes obstructed his view of the crossing, hence he was able to see only the cab of the truck at first. He could tell, however, that the crossing signal was blinking when the engine was 300 feet away, although the boxes obstructed his view of the signal itself. Weese yelled to the engineer when he saw the truck. The emergency brakes were applied at about 175 feet from the crossing, but since it takes two or three seconds for them to [610]*610take hold, there could have been not more than a slight reduction in momentum before the truck was hit. Weese suffered a loss of memory for a day or two after the accident, but his memory later returned and he could recall details preceding the accident.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
304 P.2d 22, 146 Cal. App. 2d 605, 65 A.L.R. 2d 690, 1956 Cal. App. LEXIS 1509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennington-v-southern-pacific-co-calctapp-1956.