Stanoshek v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad

198 Iowa 62
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJune 24, 1924
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 198 Iowa 62 (Stanoshek v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stanoshek v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, 198 Iowa 62 (iowa 1924).

Opinion

De Graff, J.

— It is conceded that, at the time that plaintiff’s decedent met his death, he was employed by the defendant railroad company, and that the defendant company was engaged in interstate commerce. The case is within the purview of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. The specific items of negligence charged are:

(1) That the defendant was negligent in maintaining its equipment and warnings, in that the defendant did not give warning to the said Joseph Stanoshek of the approach of the train.

(2) That the engineer and fireman in charge of and operating the locomotive saw the perilous position of the decedent, and appreciated his danger, and by the exercise of reasonable care and caution could have stopped said train or warned decedent in time to avoid the accident and prevent the injury.

(3) That the defendant was negligent in failing to keep its electric warning bell in repair.

(4) That the defendant was negligent in operating the train at a high and dangerous rate of speed, with knowledge that men were engaged in work at the point where said accident occurred.

The trial court directed a verdict in favor of the defendant, and this ruling constitutes the one error assigned and argued. The primary proposition presented on appeal involves the rule of the last clear chance.

Plaintiff’s decedent was employed as a track laborer, and had long experience in this class of work. He lived but a short distance from the point of the accident for about 32 years, and was quite familiar with the crossing and surrounding circumstances. He had been working in the vicinity of the accident on the preceding day. It appears that, when he was but 5 or 6 feet from the track, the foreman of the section crew called out to decedent to look out for the train. For some reason he did not heed the warning. The decedent had good hearing and eyesight. He had worked continuously as a track man for 25 years.

[64]*64The topography of the situation discloses that the tracks of the Rock Island, known as the old B., C. R. & N. tracks, run north and south in the city of Iowa City, along what is termed “Maiden Lane.” On the west side of Maiden Lane is a sidewalk, parallel with the tracks. Des Moines Street intersects the tracks at right angles, north of a railroad bridge carrying the main line Rock Island tracks across Maiden Lane, but does not continue west of Maiden Lane. On the north side of Des Moines Street, crossing the tracks, is a sidewalk, and there is a plank crossing at the street, about 12 feet wide. It was 75 feet from the south side of the sidewalk on the north side of Des Moines Street to the overhead bridge. The traveled part of Maiden Lane is on the west side of the tracks in question, and about seven feet west of the sidewalk on the west side of Maiden Lane is a large tree. On the day in question, the section foreman informed the crew that they could quit work for dinner, and decedent put his shovel and gloves under the tree, and then crossed the sidewalk on the west side of Maiden Lane and walked in a northeasterly direction, crossing the sidewalk on the north side of Des Moines Street, and continued walking in the same direction.

The train approached from the south, the engineer being seated on the east side of the locomotive, which extends about 30 or 35 feet ahead of the engineer’s position in the cab. The engineer testified that his view was obstructed for a distance of 83 to 93 feet ahead of the cab, and the decedent was not seen by the engineer at any time as the train approached the place of the accident. Decedent was first observed by the fireman as the train was approaching the overhead bridge. It is shown that the distance from the tree where decedent placed his shovel and gloves to the west rail of the tracks is 28 feet east. The fireman testified that, when the train was about a half block south of the south side of the overhead bridge, “I saw a man walk from the sidewalk in a northeasterly direction toward the right of way. ’ ’ When the decedent was within 3 or 4 feet of the west rail, he hesitated, as if he intended to stop, and at that time the engine was about 10 to 15 feet from the place of the accident. As decedent started to cross the track, the fireman yelled to him to watch out, and called upon the engineer to stop. The emer[65]*65geney brake was immediately applied, but too late to avoid striking Stanoshek. Decedent was struck at a point approximately 10 feet north of the sidewalk on the north side of Des Moines Street, and the train moved about 150 feet before it stopped; and at that time the body of the decedent was lying about the center of the rear coach. The train consisted of a locomotive, combination smoker, baggage car, and coach. The crossing bell was ringing as the train approached the place of the accident, but it appears that, by reason of some defect in the signal, it had been continuously ringing for some time prior to the accident. His section foreman called to Stanoshek to look out for the train, when he started over the sidewalk crossing, and at that time decedent had not reached the west rail of the tracks. The testimony shows he was about 4 or 5 feet from the track when the foreman warned him.' There is conflict in the evidence as to the speed of the train, varying from 6 to 20 miles per hour. There is no proof in the record as to the distance at which the train could have been stopped, except that it is shown that the brakes were immediately applied when the fireman gave the engineer the warning, and the train traveled about 150 feet.

When the decedent was discovered by the fireman, he was in a place of safety. He was walking in a northeasterly direction, and there was nothing to indicate that he was about to go upon

raHroa<l track until the train was almost upon him. Those in control of moving trains ^ave a right to presume that another employee will not put himself in a place of danger and

pay no attention to his own safety. The engine crew had a right to assume that the decedent would exercise reasonable care for his own safety, and that he would not heedlessly go in front of a moving train. Bennett v. Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co., 191 Iowa 1333. It is said in Aerkfetz v. Humphreys, 145 U. S. 418 (36 L. Ed. 758):

“There could have been no thought or expectation on the part of the engineer, or of any other employee, that he, thus at work in a place of danger, would pay no attention to his own safety. Under such circumstances, what negligence can be attributed to the parties in control of the train * * * They were [66]*66not bound to assume that any employee, familiar with the manner of doing business, would be wholly indifferent to the going and coming of the cars.”

In the instant case it was decedent’s own act that was the proximate cause of his injury, and there can be no recovery under the rule of the last clear chance. One of the essential elements of liability under this doctrine is that, after the perilous position of the decedent was in fact discovered, the injury could have been avoided by the exercise of ordinary care by the employees in charge of the train. Under the Federal Act, an employee assumes the risks of all injuries arising from conditions which are known to him, and the danger of which he appreciates, or which in the exercise of ordinary care he must appreciate. Clemens v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 163 Iowa 499; Taylor v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 186 Iowa 506.

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222 N.W. 344 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1928)
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Bluebook (online)
198 Iowa 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stanoshek-v-chicago-rock-island-pacific-railroad-iowa-1924.