Texas and Pacific Railway Company v. Salazar

458 S.W.2d 116, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2497
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 15, 1970
Docket6098
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 458 S.W.2d 116 (Texas and Pacific Railway Company v. Salazar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas and Pacific Railway Company v. Salazar, 458 S.W.2d 116, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2497 (Tex. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

OPINION

FRASER, Chief Justice.

The appellee, Federico Salazar, sued the appellant, The Texas and Pacific Railway Company, for personal injuries and property damage resulting from a car-train accident which occurred in appellant’s El Paso, Texas switchyards at the Cotton, or Tornillo, Street crossing on June 30, 1965.

Trial was submitted to the jury on special issues. The jury found, in answer to the first issue, that the crossing in question was extra-hazardous, and answered Issues 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 as follows: That an ordinarily prudent person in the exercise of ordinary care due to conditions, if any, surrounding such crossing, would have had a flagman at said crossing whose only duty would have been to flag automobiles and foot-traffic on such crossing; that the defendant failed to have such a flagman at the crossing in question; that such failure was a proximate cause of the injuries suffered by plaintiff Federico Salazar; that at the time and on the occasion in question, defendant required its flagman, one George Adkins, to operate the track switches, pass signals to the train engineer, and flag traffic on Cotton Street at the same time; that such requirement by the defendant of its flagman was negligence, and that such negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries suffered by the plaintiff. The jury did not find any other act of primary negligence against appellant, so it appears that the main issue in this case is whether ' the defendant should have had a flagman whose sole duty was to act as flagman in protecting traffic across the crossing in question.

The record reveals that at the time of the accident, an engine operated by the defendant was pushing 23 cars westerly on Track No. 2. The crossing in question consists of a dirt street with poorly defined boundaries which crossed 14 tracks at approximately right angles. The street runs generally north and south, while the tracks run generally east and west. Prior to the accident, the engine had pulled the 23 cars over the track in an easterly direction in order to switch over the crossing to couple into a string of cars which were standing adjacent to the crossing on the west side. The appellee, Salazar, was driving his automobile across the tracks in a northerly direction when the lead boxcar struck his automobile, shoving it across the dirt street into the string of boxcars standing west of the crossing. This occurred at approximately 9:30 P.M. There were boxcars standing next to the crossing on various tracks and, apparently, a boxcar was standing on the No. 5 track just east of the crossing. This No. 5 track was located approximately 13 feet south of the No. 2 track, on which the accident occurred. Ap-pellee maintains that, as he was driving across the tracks, he saw two men standing approximately 40 yards from the crossing by a switch, and that one of the men suddenly started running toward the crossing, and at that very moment appellee claims *119 that he saw the boxcar at the right-hand side of his automobile. Appellee contended that the flagman was negligent in his manner of signaling, and in failing to properly station himself where he could effectively signal the engine of the train, and also failed to keep a proper lookout. Appellant maintains that the flagman saw the Salazar vehicle proceeding slowly across the crossing and immediately began signaling for said said vehicle to stop, and when the vehicle did not stop, he gave emergency stop signals to the engineer and ran toward appellee’s automobile and yelled for Salazar to stop, but the automobile, according to the flagman, continued forward over the No. 5 track and continued on until he stopped on the No. 2 track where the accident occurred.

Appellant does not make any complaint about the submission of Special Issue No. 1, which inquires whether or not the Cotton Street crossing was an extra-hazardous crossing, nor does the appellant complain of the court’s definition of the term “extra-hazardous”. There does not seem to be any contention between the parties that the Cotton Street crossing was, as found by the jury, an extra-hazardous crossing and, in any event, the record amply supports the submission of such issue and the jury’s affirmative answer thereto.

The parties, however, violently disagree as to the nature of the protection that appellant provided at the said crossing, as evidenced by appellant’s Points 1-8. There are many cases holding that where an extra-hazardous crossing exists, the railroad must protect traffic by such means as would be done by a reasonably prudent person under the same or similar circumstances. It does not matter whether it is a flagman or a form of mechanical or electrical device, the real test being whether the warning given is sufficient and adequate and in operation at the time of the accident. Galveston H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Wells, 121 Tex. 310, 50 S.W.2d 247; 48 Tex.Jur.2d § 307; Cisco & N. E. Ry. Co. v. Wood, 244 S.W. 834 (Tex.Civ.App., err. dis’m); Texas and New Orleans Ry. Co. v. Hart, 163 Tex. 450, 356 S.W.2d 901. It has been held that the mere presence of one whose several duties consist of that of flagman may not be enough under the circumstances there present. This point is particularly brought out in Cisco & N. E. Ry. Co. v. Wood (supra). In Southwest Stone Co. v. Symons, 237 S.W.2d 380 (Tex.Civ.App., wr. ref. n. r. e.), the court specifically stated that the duty with regard to hazardous crossings and negligence was to do what a reasonably prudent person would have done under the same or similar circumstances. In Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Rose, 380 S.W.2d 41 (Tex.Civ.App., ref. n. r. e.), the court held that the flasher system was not adequate and that the railroad was obligated, in addition, to supply a flagging system. See also Galveston H. & S. A. Ry. Co. v. Wells (supra), where the court stated that the rule to warn travelers at an extra-hazardous crossing is complied with if either mechanical or flagman type warning was sufficient to warn travelers of the dangers inherent to the use of the crossing. As heretofore stated, these cases also point out that whatever method is used, it must be adequate and working. In other words, a mechanical system must be adequate, or the flagman must be a person able to carry out his duties, and it is implied that he must not have any other duties if it detracts from his proper conduct of his job as flagman. Appellee cites two other cases from other jurisdictions where it was held that it was negligence to provide a flagman who was incapable of reasonably discharging his duties because of any physical disability or age. McNamara v. Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co., 126 Mo.App. 152, 103 S.W. 1093; Ryan v. Louisiana Ry. & Nav. Co., 146 La. 40, 83 So. 371.

As stated, the jury in the case before us found the switchyard to be an extra-hazardous crossing, a finding which is amply supported in the evidence. The switchyard, being an extra-hazardous crossing, required the railroad to take such *120 steps as would be reasonably prudent in order to protect traffic at this crossing.

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Bluebook (online)
458 S.W.2d 116, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-and-pacific-railway-company-v-salazar-texapp-1970.