Webster v. CSX Transportation

725 So. 2d 462, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 1400, 1999 WL 77191
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 12, 1999
DocketNo. 97-2039
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 725 So. 2d 462 (Webster v. CSX Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Webster v. CSX Transportation, 725 So. 2d 462, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 1400, 1999 WL 77191 (Fla. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

THOMPSON, J.

William Webster appeals the summary judgments in favor of Florida Power Corporation (FPC) and Withlaeoochee Electric Incorporated (WEI). We reverse the judgment for FPC, but we affirm the judgment for WEI.

Webster sued CSX Transportation, FPC, and WEI for injuries he sustained as a result of a collision, allegedly caused by a defectively operating warning signal, between the vehicle that he was driving and a train moving across a railroad crossing. He alleged in his second amended complaint that the accident occurred on a drizzly, foggy, and dark morning. As Webster headed south and approached the tracks, he alleged, the railroad warning lights flashed. He alleged that the lights ceased flashing and that there were no gates or barriers blocking the intersection, or other indications of the presence of a train. Webster, thinking a train had passed through and beyond the intersection, continued forward. Webster further alleged that he did not see the train until he was within 30 feet of it, and, as he reached the tracks, the tram’s 90th ear struck his vehicle. There is an indication in the record that Webster was driving at 40-45 m.p.h., with headlights on, windshield wipers activated, and radio off. There was also evidence that the train’s lights were burning, that its horn was sounding, and that its bells were ringing. The trial court entered summary judgment for CSX, and that ruling was not appealed.

Next, the remaining defendants, FPC and WEI, moved for summary judgment. We find that the only record basis for the summary judgment in favor of FPC was the court’s application of the “standing train doctrine.” This doctrine has its roots in the premise that “one who drives headlong into a train standing across a highway cannot be heard to complain of negligence because of the absence of any special warning, since the position of the train itself is the warning.”1 Hutton v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., 92 So.2d 528 (Fla.1957); see also Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Ry. Co. v. Church, 212 F.2d 688 (5th Cir.1954) (reason for this rule is that train itself standing starkly on crossing is adequate warning).2.

Also informing cases involving the standing train doctrine is the premise that, if a driver collides with a train standing on a track, the driver must have been negligent, and contributory negligence principles will bar recovery. See Trevino v. .Union Pacific R. Co., 916 F.2d 1230 (7th Cir.1990) (citing [464]*464Baltimore & O.R. Co. v. Goodman, 275 U.S. 66, 48 S.Ct. 24, 72 L.Ed. 167 (1927) (Holmes, J.) (standard of conduct of an automobile driver is to stop and look, and, if the driver’s view of the track is obstructed, he should dismount from his automobile and walk to a point where he can see down the tracks)), overruled, Pokora v. Wabash Ry. Co., 292 U.S. 98, 54 S.Ct. 580, 78 L.Ed. 1149 (1934)3. It was recognized, however, that circumstances could give rise to liability on the part of a railroad. See Hutton (citing Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Johnston, 74 So.2d 689 (Fla.1954); Horton v. Louisville & N.R. Co., 61 So.2d 406 (Fla.1952)). The circumstances include: (1) whether or not the crossing was hazardous; (2) visibility at the time and place of the accident; (3) location of the locomotive and flat cars at the time of the accident; and (4) condition of the approach to the crossing. Hutton.

Often, based on the doctrine of contributory negligence, cases brought by plaintiff motorists were disposed of summarily because the record showed at least some negligence on the part of the plaintiff. See Trevino. However, in Florida there were for many years statutes that applied the doctrine of comparative negligence to accidents involving the operation of a railroad, and that created a presumption of negligence on the part of the railroad.4 Review of earlier Florida cases suggests that the statutes often may have been honored in the breach, but, in Goff v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 53 So.2d 777 (Fla.1951), the court recognized that a strict application of the standing train doctrine would negate the comparative negligence statute.

The Goff court distinguished Brown v. Loftin, 154 Fla. 621, 18 So.2d 540 (Fla.1944) in which the Brown court stated:

The contention that the freight train was in motion when the accident occurred rather than at a stop cannot affect our previous holdings, because in either instance the train was being operated within the meaning of the statute. The absence of signboards, flashlight signals and other warning devices about the railroad crossing are insufficient reasons under the peculiar circumstances of this controversy. If a driver of an automobile fails or omits, when approaching a railroad crossing, to see or observe a moving freight train on a railroad crossing directly in front of the driver of the car and across the highway he is traveling, when the freight train consists of thirty or more cars, then a serious doubt arises and must exist as to whether or not lawfully required signs and signals at such crossing would prove efficacious.
It is contended that the painting of the lights of the automobile, except a narrow strip, in accordance with the dimout regulations, prevented the' driver from seeing the freight train then on the crossing. The answer to this contention is that greater care and caution should have been exercised by the driver at or near the crossing because of his inefficient lights.

Brown, 18 So.2d at 541. According to Goff, the distinction between its facts, and those of Brown, was that in Brown the train was fully occupying the crossing when the crossing came within the driver’s range of vision, whereas in Goff the automobile and the train approached the crossing simultaneously, and the train occupied the crossing only a few seconds before the impact. Goff, 53 So.2d. at 779. Because the facts surrounding the accident were in dispute, and because it could not be said the driver’s negligence was the sole proximate cause of the accident, the court reversed the summary judgment in favor of the railroad. Id.

Similarly, in Horton v. Louisville & N.R. Co., 61 So.2d 406 (Fla.1952), the court cited [465]*465former sections 768.05 and 768.06, and stated that an accident occurred and a person was killed, by reason of the operation of the train, and that it was the railroad’s duty to show that it exercised due care, the presumption being against the railroad. In Hutton, in which, as previously noted, the court laid out factors to be considered with respect to the standing train doctrine, the court stated:

Although at one time this Court may have been committed to the ‘standing train doctrine’, to the effect that one who drives headlong into a train standing across a highway cannot be heard to complain of negligence because of the absence of any special warning, since the position of the train itself is the warning ...

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Related

Florida Power Corp. v. Webster
760 So. 2d 120 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
725 So. 2d 462, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 1400, 1999 WL 77191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/webster-v-csx-transportation-fladistctapp-1999.