TEXAS & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY v. Hasting

282 S.W.2d 758, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2082
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 8, 1955·No. 5093·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinions

McGILL, Justice.

Appellees as plaintiffs filed this suit against appellant as defendant to recover damages alleged to have been sustained by plaintiffs in a grade crossing collision which occurred in Stanton, Texas, on October 14, 1952. A pick-up truck driven by Mrs. Mildred Hasting, wife of Lloyd Hasting, was struck by an eastbound freight train of defendant. Two insurance companies that had coverage on the Hasting vehicle intervened. Trial to a jury resulted in judgment for plaintiffs and intervenors against defendant for $16,976.57.

Appellant’s first point, on which it lays much stress, is that the court erred in failing to hold that as a matter of law the stalling of the engine on Mrs. Hasting’s truck when it got on appellant’s track was a new and independent cause which intervened between excessive speed of defendant’s train, which the jury found was a proximate cause of the collision, and the collision. Plaintiffs alleged:

“That on the occasion when Mrs. Hasting first saw the.train approaching, the train was at least 1,400 feet away and was at such a distance that it was safe for Mrs. Hasting to proceed across the track which she began to do immediately. That just as her car became astride of the tracks the engine stopped whereupon the locomotive of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company, which was then proceeding in an easterly direction, ran into Mrs. Hasting’s car and tore it up, causing the damages and personal injuries hereinafter described.”

Mrs. Hasting testified on cross-examination :

“Q. You looked west and saw the train coming three or four blocks away ? A. I imagine so.
“Q. You could see down the track? A. Yes, sir.
[760] “Q. Then you started across the track? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And at that time you had time to get across before the train got there, didn’t you? A. Yes.
"Q; And you would have' gotten across if your motor hadn’t died? Isn’t-that right? A. That’s right.” ■

Her testimony was corroborated by the engineer on appellant’s train. He testified:

“Q. At the time you first saw this pick-up approaching from the south and as it came upon the track, did the pick-up or not have time to géf on across before you got there? A. If it hadn’t stopped.
“Q. Do you often see many cars crossing at closer distance than that one was that don’t ever get hit? A. Yes, sir. ' ■ ■
• “Q. If the pick-up had not stopped-on the track it would not have been struck, is that correct? A-. That’s, .right.” , •

The fact that the Hasting truck stalled on--the track may properly, be . considered in passing on the issue of proximate cause, but this fact cannot be held as a matter of law to be the sole proximate cause of the collision, or an intervening-cause. Polasek v. Gaines Bros., Tex.Civ.App., 185 S.W.2d 609.

Nor can it be said as a matter of law that a similar accident could, not have reasonably been foreseen as a natural result of excessive speed. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co. of Texas v. McLain, 133 Tex. 484, 126 S.W.2d 474.

It is not required that the engineer should have foreseen that this particular accident would happen in the exact manner that it did happen. All that is required is that the injury be of such a general character as might reasonably have been anticipated, and that the injured party should be so situated with relation to the wrongful act that injury to her or to one similarly situated might reasonably have been foreseen. Akers v. Epperson, Tex.Civ. App., 172 S.W.2d 512.

It might reasonably have been foreseen that a car approaching the track as the Hasting car was approaching would for some 'reason stall when it got on the track. Such a happening is not unusual. ■ Under such ‘ circumstances'' it requires no “prophetic ken” to reasonably anticipate that excessive speed might result in a collision. This'point is Overruled.

The second point is that the court erred in failing to render judgment for appellant because Mrs. Hasting was-guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, in violating Article 6701d, Section 86(c) R.C.S., and that such negligence was as a matter of law a proximate cause of the collision. The court submitted Special Issue No. 14, which was:

“Special Issue No. 14: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that as Mrs. Mildred Hasting approached the St. Mary’s Street crossing, the train of The Texas & Pacific Railway Company was approaching said crossing within approximately fifteen hundred (1500) feet, and emitted a signal audible from such distance, and such train by reason of its speed or nearness to such crossing was an immediate hazard?” To which the jury answered “yes”.
Section 86 provides as follows:
“Sec. 86. Whenever any person driving a vehicle approaches a railroad grade crossing, the driver of such vehicle shall stop within fifty (50) feet but not less than fifteen (15) feet from the nearest rail of such railroad and shall not proceed until he can do so safely when: -* *

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

TEXAS & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY v. Hasting, 282 S.W.2d 758, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2082 (Tex. Ct. App. 1955).

282 S.W.2d 758 (TEXAS & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY v. Hasting) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Texas and New Orleans Railroad Co. v. Broadway
345 S.W.2d 814 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1961)
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Co. v. McFerrin
291 S.W.2d 931 (Texas Supreme Court, 1956)
TEXAS & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY v. Hasting
282 S.W.2d 758 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1955)