St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. Rundell

1925 OK 183, 235 P. 491, 108 Okla. 132, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 114
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 3, 1925
Docket13304
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 1925 OK 183 (St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. Rundell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. Rundell, 1925 OK 183, 235 P. 491, 108 Okla. 132, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 114 (Okla. 1925).

Opinion

LESTER, J.

This action was commenced in the district court of Lincoln county, by Herbert Rundell, a minor, by his next friend, M. S. Rundell, against the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, a corporation, to recover damages for the death of his father caused by one of defendant’s trains colliding with an automobile in which deceased was riding, at a public crossing in, Creek county, Okla.

The allegations of the petition may be summarized as follows: One of defendant’s passenger trains struck an automobile in which the deceased and a Mr. Wheeler were riding, killing them both instantly. The collision occurred at a public crossing about half way between the towns of Bristow and Depew. The public crossing was on the main traveled highway between the town of Sa-pulpa, the county seat of Creek county, Bris-tow and Depew, over which crossing a great number of people traveled daily. The highway was known and designated as the “Ozark Trail.”

The acts of negligence alleged may be subdivided as follows:

(1) Failure to give the statutory signals .
(2) The crossing was in bad repair.
(3) By virtue of the great amount of traffic over said crossing and the view of an approaching train being obstructed by trees, underbrush, and by a mound or hill, and the poor condition of the crossing, the company was negligent in failing to maintain a flagman, automatic bell, or some other system at said crossing to warn the traveling public of the approach of the train.
(4) The speed the train was running at this particular place, under the facts and circumstances, was excessive.

The answer of the company was a general denial, and the further plea of contributory negligence.

A brief statement of the facts may be summarized as follows:

The deceased and a party by the name of Wheeler were in a Ford automobile on the west side of the railroad track traveling east toward the railroad crossing on the Ozark Trail, at a rate of about 20 or 25 miles per hour. The said crossing passed through and over the Ozark Trail, a public highway over which a large number of people crossed daily. The highway on the west leading toward the railroad track was down grade, and the road to the right of way! was in very good condition. When the automobile reached the right of way, it slowed down and almost stopped. The distance from the track to the west line of the right of way is practically 50 feet. The approaches over the track were in bad condition ; in the approach from the west there was- a small ravine, ditch, or depression in the ground close to the west side of the right of way, and from the bottom of. this low place to the track was an incline of about three feet. The condition of this portion of the approach was such that a person traveling in an automobile when reaching the right of way was required to shift gears on account of the low place and) the roughness of the approach and crossing. As the deceased and Wheeler reached the right of *134 way, Mr. Smiley and familyi were in a Ford Sedan, ear, which was standing still and across the right of way on the east side of the track. The Smileys waived or motioned to the deceased and Mr. Wheeler for the purpose and intent of advising them, of the approach of the train. It was practically impossible for two cars to pass each other on the crossing or approaches thereto, and it was necessary, for one to wait while the other crossed. There is another inference that can be drawn from the testimony, that the deceased and Wheeler misunderstood the signalling of the! Smileys to be an invitation to come across the track while the Smileys waited on, the opposite side in order to pass. The evidence discloses that on the south side of the highway west of the railroad track there were trees, underbrush, and shrubbery that obstructed the view of the public coming from the west and' prevented them from seeing a train approaching from the south. To the west of the railroad track, and south, was a mound or hill which obstructed the view of the train from travelers coming from the west. There is some evidence that the underbrush to the south of the highway extended to the right of way. On the day of the accident, there was also a tent close to the right of way south of the highway which also obstructed the view of the train from one coming from the west. The view, coming from the east, was not obstructed. Where the highway crossed the track there were only four planks, or timbers, one on each side of each rail, and the ground between the two planks in the center of the track was rough. The condition of, the crossing, as described by one witness, was as follows: If a party did not slow down and shift gears to low. he would likely break his ear or spring. Another described the approaches and ground between the rails as being rough and chuggy. Tihe roadbed from the hill south to the crossing was down grade; the train approached from the south and after it came from behind the hill, where there was a curve in the track, it coasted down this grade to the crossing at a speed of from 35 to 40 miles an hour.

The Smileys were on the east side of the highway watching the train approach, and testified there was no whistle blown, nor bell rung, and the train was coming down the grade without making any sound or noise whatever. The engineer and fireman and several passengers testified the whistle was blown before reaching the crossing.

The case was tried to a jury and a verdict returned in favor of plaintiff, upon which judgment was rendered. From said judgment, an appeal has been regularly prosecuted to this court.

For reversal, the plaintiff in error argues the specifications of error under three heads: First, the verdict of the jury is not supported by the evidence. Under this proposition, the plaintiff in error contends' that in order to return a verdict against the defendant it was necessary for the jury to find there was a failure on the part of defendant’s crew to sound the warning signal by giving the statutory warning of blowing the whistle or ringing the bell before approaching the crossing, and the evidence is not sufficient to support such a finding. Accepting this proposition as correct, was there any evidence to support a finding that the company was negligent in this respect? We think it only necessary in this respect to notice a few excerpts from the testimony of Mr. Smiley, which is as follows:

“Q. From the time you saw the smoke of this train until it came to that crossing, did they blow a whistle? A. Not that I heard; no, sir. Q. Did they ever ring the bell? A. No, sir. Q. Did they ever give any alarm of their approach? A. No, sir. * * * Q. And you say they did not whistle after you saw that smoke? A. No, sir. Q. Did they blow any whistle before they got to the crossing? A. No, sir. * * * Q. After they came out of the cut? A. No, sir.”

Mr. Smiley testified it was a clear, still day; that he was in a Ford Sedan with the windows open and was stopped on the east side of the right of way waiting the passing of the train. Mrs. Uden, the mother-in-law of Smiley, who was in the car with him, also testified that she did not hear any whistle blown nor any other sound of the train, and that it was a clear, still day. Mrs. Smiley also testified it was a clear, still day and she heard no whistle.

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

Related

Walker v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co.
646 P.2d 593 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1982)
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad v. Kiser
1967 OK 176 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1967)
Kansas, O. & G. Ry. Co. v. Clark
1953 OK 276 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1953)
Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. v. Collins
1952 OK 372 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)
Missouri Pac. Railroad Thompson, Trustee v. Diffee
205 S.W.2d 458 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1947)
Chicago & N. W. Ry. Co. v. Golay
155 F.2d 842 (Tenth Circuit, 1946)
Fleming v. Pattillo
1946 OK 82 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1946)
Kurn v. Manley
1944 OK 326 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1944)
Public Service Co. of Oklahoma v. Hawkins
1944 OK 101 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1944)
Thompson v. Cooper
1943 OK 33 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1943)
Kansas, O. & G. Ry. Co. v. Pruitt
1942 OK 136 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1942)
Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Howard
1939 OK 314 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1939)
Continental Casualty Co. v. Shankel
88 F.2d 819 (Tenth Circuit, 1937)
Alexander v. Beaver
1935 OK 912 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Atchison, T. S. F. R. Co. v. Hunter
1935 OK 727 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
St. Louis-S. F. R. Co. v. Pufahl
45 P.2d 729 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Sand Springs Railway Co. v. McWilliams
1934 OK 233 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1934)
Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. v. Hartley Bros.
1932 OK 862 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1932)
Missouri Pac. Railroad Co. v. Miller
41 S.W.2d 971 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1925 OK 183, 235 P. 491, 108 Okla. 132, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-louis-san-francisco-ry-co-v-rundell-okla-1925.