Sarman v. Seaboard Air-Line Railway Co.

125 S.E. 891, 33 Ga. App. 315, 1924 Ga. App. LEXIS 855
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedDecember 18, 1924
Docket15456
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 125 S.E. 891 (Sarman v. Seaboard Air-Line Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sarman v. Seaboard Air-Line Railway Co., 125 S.E. 891, 33 Ga. App. 315, 1924 Ga. App. LEXIS 855 (Ga. Ct. App. 1924).

Opinions

Bell, J.

Mrs. Elizabeth Sarman brought suit against Seaboard Air-Line Railway Company, a corporation, under the Civil Code, § 4424, for the homicide of her thirteen-year-old daughter Margaret. The homicide occurred at a public crossing at White Oak, a village [316]*316in Camden county, when the defendant’s train collided with an automobile driven by a Mr. Prickett, in which the decedent was riding. The specifications of negligence were that the defendant failed to observe the requirements of the “blow-post law,” that the train was being run at an excessive speed, and that the defendant’s engineer and fireman failed to exercise ordinary care to cheek the speed or to give any signals of its approach even after the presence of the automobile, stalled on the track, was or should have been discovered. The defendant filed a plea denying all of the allegations of negligence, and further alleging that when the locomotive reached a point about 100 feet from the crossing the automobile suddenly appeared upon the track and stopped thereon directly in front of the train; and that upon discovering the same the engineer immediately “did everything within his power to bring said train to an immediate stop,” but that the distance was then so short that it was impossible for him to stop the train before it collided with the automobile; and that “everything was ¿lone that could be done by defendant’s employees to avoid” the collision. The trial resulted in a verdict in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial was overruled, and she excepted.

The engineer testified that he approached the crossing at a speed of 45 to 50 miles per hour. Some witnesses estimated the speed to be higher and some lower. The evidence was in conflict as to whether the defendant’s servants in the operation of the train complied with the “blow-post law.” The railroad track at White Oak runs north and south. There are stores and residences on each side. The depot is on the west side. The public crossing was about 100 feet south of the depot. The train was approaching from the north. The automobile came from the south upon a road paralleling the track on the Avest side for a distance of about 300 yards, and turned to the right into the crossing. From the position of the automobile as it was traveling north before attempting to make the crossing, the occupants of the car had a view of the track north of the depot for some distance, but the depot and trees obstructed the view to some extent north of the crossing. The decedent and other children were on the rear seat. Their vision, it seems, would have been obstructed to some further extent by the two adults, Mr. Prickett and his wife, who occupied the front seat. The automobile was going at a very low speed, estimated by some [317]*317witnesses at four or five miles per hour. As it turned to make the crossing, still more of the track to the north was obscured from the occupants, by the depot. It is inferable that none of them ever knew of the approach of the train until the automobile was within a few feet of the track, perhaps not until it was actually upon the track. Mrs. Prickett, the wife of the driver, testified that she looked for the train before they turned in to the crossing, but did not see it. Whether the decedent or the driver looked is unknown. The train was at this time but a short distance away, some of the witnesses saying from 90 to 100 feet, others more. Whether from excitement or other cause, the driver lost control of the automobile and it stopped upon the track. There was evidence that certain persons about the village saw the impending danger and voiced warnings in time for the automobile to be stopped short of the track, but it does not appear whether these warnings were heard by any of the occupants of the automobile. The engineer on discovering the automobile as it was about to go upon the track instantly applied the brakes, but it was then too late to avert the collision.

The decedent was nearly 14 years of age, and the evidence tends to show that she was an unusually bright girl. She had finished the eighth grade in school and had had considerable experience in housekeeping, selling goods, and bookkeeping. Her parents lived about 150 yards from the depot and their store was nearby. The train was a regular train and was running practically on schedule. The circumstances would justify the conclusion that the decedent was acquainted with the schedule."

The collision resulted in the instant death of the decedent and three others of the six who were in the automobile, only one other besides Mrs. Prickett surviving. Mr. Prickett appears not to have been thoroughly experienced in the driving of automobiles, but this was not known to the plaintiff. He was to her knowledge a little deaf in one ear. He had invited Mrs. Sarman to go to ride with them, but' she could not go. He then invited the little girl to go, and the mother permitted her to accept the invitation. The father was not at home. There was sufficient evidence to support the allegations of dependency and contribution.

The above is a fair resume of the evidence. The motion for a [318]*318new trial contains • the usual general grounds and a- number 0 f special grounds.

If Mrs. Sarman had made Prickett the custodian of her child, any negligence on his part would have been imputable to her, she and not the father having permitted the child to go with him, and she being the plaintiff. Atlanta &c. Ry. Co. v. Gravilt, 93 Ga. 369 (3) (20 S. E. 550, 26 L. R. A. 553, 44 Am. St. Rep. 145). But such was not the case; she did not submit the child to his custody but merely allowed it to accept his invitation. Compare Crook v. Foster, 142 Ga. 715 (3) (83 S. E. 670). His negligence was imputable neither to the child nor to the plaintiff mother merely because the child was riding as a guest in his automobile. Southern Railway Co. v. King, 128 Ga. 383 (1) (57 S. E. 687, 11 L. R. A. (N. S.) 829, 119 Am. St. Rep. 300); Mayor &c. of Savannah v. Waters, 27 Ga. App. 813 (1) (109 S. E. 918), and citations. Still the child, not being so young as to be as a matter of law incapable of negligence (Williams v. Jones, 26 Ga. App. 558 (2), 106 S. E. 616), was under a duty not to be negligent herself, but to exercise proper care for her own safety, although riding in the automobile as the guest of another. Powell v. Berry, 145 Ga. 696 (2), 700 (89 S. E. 753, L. R. A. 1917A, 306); Adamson v. McEwen, 12 Ga. App. 508 (77 S. E. 591). If she failed to do so and such failure was the proximate cause of her death, the mother was not entitled to recover. Linder v. Brown, 137 Ga. 352 (4) (73 S. E. 734); Elk Cotton Mills v. Grant, 140 Ga. 727 (4) (79 S. E. 836, 48 L. R. A. (N. S.) 656); Civil Code (1910), § 3474. Whether she exercised the proper care was a question for the jury. It was for them to say whether'she should have been on the lookout for the train or warned the driver, or what, if anything, she should have done in the exercise of proper care under the circumstances. Illinois Central R. Co. v. McLeod, 78 Miss. 334 (29 So. 76, 84 Am. St. Rep. 630, 52 L. R. A. 954); Dean v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 129 Pa. 514 (2), (18 A. 718, 15 Am. St. Rep. 733, 6 L. R. A. 143); Cotton v. Willmar &c. Ry. Co., 99 Minn. 366 (3) (109 N. W. 835, 8 L. R. A. (N. S.) 643, and note on p. 671); Colorado & Southern Ry. Co. v. Thomas, 33 Colo. 517 (3) (81 Pac. 801, 70 L. R. A.

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Bluebook (online)
125 S.E. 891, 33 Ga. App. 315, 1924 Ga. App. LEXIS 855, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sarman-v-seaboard-air-line-railway-co-gactapp-1924.