Seaboard Air-Line Railway v. Hollis

93 S.E. 264, 20 Ga. App. 555, 1917 Ga. App. LEXIS 970
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 23, 1917
Docket8163
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 93 S.E. 264 (Seaboard Air-Line Railway v. Hollis) 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
Seaboard Air-Line Railway v. Hollis, 93 S.E. 264, 20 Ga. App. 555, 1917 Ga. App. LEXIS 970 (Ga. Ct. App. 1917).

Opinion

Wade, C. J.

Hollis instituted a suit for damages against the Seaboard Air-Line Railway, on account of personal injuries, and. because of the destruction of an automobile in which he was riding, in a collision with a passenger-train of the defendant at a public crossing on a country road. He predicated his right to re[556]*556cover upon the alleged failure of the defendant to observe the “blow-post law” (Civil Code .of 1910, § 2675), by blowing the whistle of the locomotive and continuing to blow it while approaching the said crossing and until the crossing was reached,' and simultaneously checking and continuing to check the speed of the train, so as to have it under such control as to avoid colliding with any one who might be crossing or attempting to cross the track at the crossing; and asserted that the defendant ran its train across the public road at the crossing at the high and dangerous rate of speed of forty miles per hour. He alleged in his petition that as he neared the crossing he was prevented from seeing the approach of the train, because of certain obstacles adjacent to the track, and that he had no knowledge of its approach and no reason to expect its presence, since no signal or warning of its approach was given as required by law. The defendant denied that it had failed to comply with the “blow-post law,” and asserted that the plaintiff, at the time of the alleged injury, was accompanied by another man and two women, and that all of the party had been drinking intoxicating beverages, and were in such a state of inebriety as deprived them of the power to exercise ordinary care and diligence. The defendant further alleged, as the proximate cause of the injury, and as constituting a failure to exercise that ordinary care and diligence which if observed would have prevented the occurrence, various acts and omissions on the part of the plaintiff, to wit: his attempting to operate the automobile while incompetent to do so by reason of intoxication; his attempt to go over a public railroad-crossing at a high rate of speed, though he well knew of the location of the crossing; his failure, though knowing the location of the crossing, to slacken speed when approaching it, or to look or listen to ascertain whether a train was approaching. On the trial of- the case there was some evidence to support every material allegation of the petition, including proof as to the injury to the person and to the automobile of the plaintiff; and the jury returned a verdict in his favor for $750. The defendant made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and the judgment overruling the motion is here for review.

Counsel for the plaintiff in error contend in their brief that “on the point as to blowing, the evidence of the plaintiff was only negative, some of his witnesses stating that they did not hear the whis[557]*557tie sounded, but that it could have blown and they not have noticed.” An examination of the brief of evidence discloses that the engineer in charge of the locomotive testified: "I blew for the crossing at the blow-post about a quarter of a mile or 400 yards from the crossing on the right-hand side of the track,” and. “I blew two long and two short blasts,” and was "within 150 feet of the crossing when I ceased blowing,” and “I shut off steam at the blow-post and let the engine drift or roll.” . The fireman of the engine said: “I am certain the engineer blew the whistle approaching the crossing. . . Mr. Bellows [the engineer] gave the usual blow of two long and two short blows approaching the crossing. . . He shut off the steam and let the train roll after we passed the blow-post. He did not get right up to the crossing when he was blowing for tile crossing,—not until he reached the crossing. I don’t think he blew the whistle all the way from the blow-post to the crossing.' I don’t know that he checked and kept checking the speed of fhe train. I think the train was getting a little slower.” The conductor also testified that the whistle blew for the crossing and that the usual regular crossing signals were given, though he would not swear that the "engineer blew and kept blowing until [they] reached the crossing,” and ■ did not remember "that he cheeked and kept checking his train. The train ran about 250 feet past the crossing.” One Parkman testified that he heard the whistle blow for this crossing on the day the accident occurred. On the other hand, the plaintiff, who was certainly in a position to have heard the whistle, if such a signal was given, testified: “I never heard any whistle and never heard any train. I did not hear any whistle blow and never heard any train at all as I was approaching the crossing. If the whistle was blown, I did not hear it.” Since the evidence placed this witness in a position in which he must have heard’the whistle if it did blow, and as there is no testimony to suggest that his hearing was impaired, his testimony amounted to direct and not negative evidence. Some of the witnesses for the plaintiff were uncertain whether they heard the train blow on this occasion, hut Miss Yarbrough, a witness for the plaintiff, testified positively that she was a passenger on the train, and “that the whistle did not blow on approaching that crossing 400 yards east. It did not blow and did not' keep blowing as it approached Shepherd’s crossing. It [558]*558did not blow until it passed the crossing and began to slow up after it struck the people. It did not check and did not continue to check from the point 400 yards east of the crossing. I did not detect any cessation of speed. The train ran about 250 yards after it struck the people. . . The whistle could not have blown and I not heard it before it got to the crossing. I am sure of that. . . I am positive it did not blow before crossing over the crossing. The train was running pretty fast.” Mrs. Bean testified that she was on the train on this occasion, and that, “the whistle was not blown 400 yards east of the crossing, nor did it blow or keep blowing as it approached the crossing, nor «check or keep checking its speed. I am certain it did not. . . I would have heard the whistle blow if it had blown, and I would have noticed the train cheek if it had checked.” Miss Cantrell testified for the plaintiff to the same effect as the two witnesses last named, and added: “I know the train did not blow and did not check. I know it because I know it, and because I did not notice it. I will not tell the jury that it might have blown and I did not hear it. I am certain, if it had blown, I would have heard it. The train was running very fast.”

A bare reference to this testimony sufficiently demonstrates that there was positive evidence that the whistle of the locomotive was not blown, nor the speed of the engine cheeked, as the train approached the crossing; and it was the privilege of the jury to accept the testimony of these witnesses in preference of that of the witnesses for the defendant.

Again, it may be mentioned specially, in connection with what is later said in this opinion in reference to this point, that while the testimony of a. civil engineer, who was sworn in behalf of the defendant, tended to show that the view to the right in approaching the crossing where the collision occurred was not obstructed so greatly as was indicated by the testimony of the plaintiff, it was the privilege of the jury to accept the testimony of the plaintiff in preference; and it likewise appears that the testimony of the witness Williams materially corroborated the plaintiff’s testimony.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
93 S.E. 264, 20 Ga. App. 555, 1917 Ga. App. LEXIS 970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seaboard-air-line-railway-v-hollis-gactapp-1917.