Woodruff v. St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines

484 S.W.2d 437, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2256
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 24, 1972
DocketNo. 4998
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 484 S.W.2d 437 (Woodruff v. St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines) 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
Woodruff v. St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines, 484 S.W.2d 437, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2256 (Tex. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

HALL, Justice.

Plaintiff, Charles R. Woodruff, while driving a tractor-trailer for his employer, Illinois-California-Express, was in collision with a train being operated by defendant, St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines, at the place of intersection of defendant’s track with Josey Lane in the City of Car-rollton. The collision caused substantial personal injuries to Woodruff and he brought this action for his damages. His employer brought a separate action for damages to its truck. The two suits were consolidated. Later, Transport Indemnity Company, the workmen’s compensation insurer for Illinois-California-Express, intervened, seeking recovery of benefits and medical expenses it had paid to Woodruff, and, in effect, assumed the position of plaintiff in the case.

Among other defenses, defendant pleaded that Woodruff violated Sections 86(c) and 86(d) of Article 6701d, Vernon’s Ann. Civ.St., and that these were proximate causes of the collision. The statutory provisions read as follows:

“Sec. 86. Whenever any person driving a vehicle approaches a railroad grade crossing, the driver of such vehicle shall stop within fifty (SO) 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:
“(c) A railroad engine approaching within approximately fifteen hundred (1500) feet of the highway crossing emits a signal audible from such distance and such engine by reason of its speed or nearness to such crossing is an immediate hazard;
“(d) An approaching train is plainly visible and is in hazardous proximity to such crossing.”

Trial was to a jury which made findings that defendant committed several acts of negligence which were proximate causes of the collision, and which made findings on damages. Additionally, answering special issues numbered as follows, the jury found (20) that “when the engine of the defendant’s train was within approximately 1500 feet of .the crossing it emitted a signal which was audible from that distance”; (22) that “the train was in hazardous proximity to the crossing before Woodruff reached a point fifteen feet from the nearest rail of the track on which the train was approaching”; (23) that Woodruff “failed to stop his vehicle within fifty feet, but not less than fifteen feet, from the nearest rail of the track on which the train was approaching” ; and (24) that such failure was a proximate cause of the collision.

The court instructed the jury that a train “is ‘in hazardous proximity to the crossing’ if the speed or nearness of the train is such that a driver, situated as was Woodruff and using ordinary care for his own safety, would reasonably conclude that he cannot pass over the crossing without danger of collision.”

This appeal is from a judgment rendered on the verdict that plaintiffs recover nothing.

In Swonke v. Hildebrandt Engineering Company (Tex.Civ.App., 1965, writ ref., n. r. e.) 389 S.W.2d 355, 357, we held that a motorist is under an absolute duty to stop when the conditions enumerated in Section 86(c), Article 6701d, are shown to exist. We said, “These are: (1) the engine must be ‘approaching’ (2) within approximately 1500 feet of the crossing, (3) emitting an audible signal, and (4) the engine, by reason of its speed and proximity must be an immediate hazard.” And in Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. v. Burns (Tex.Civ.App., 1964, no writ hist.) 382 S.W.2d 761, find[439]*439ings were made that are, in effect, identical to those made in answer to issues 20, 22, and 23 by the jury in this case. This court held that they convicted plaintiff of a violation of Sec. 86(c), Article 6701d; and that, along with a finding of proximate cause, they required a judgment in favor of the defendant railroad company.

Plaintiffs contend that there is no evidence to support the answer to issue No. 24 (the proximate cause finding), or, alternatively, that the answer is against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. Defendant asserts that the statutory violation was both negligence and proximate cause as a matter of law; and that, in any event, the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support the proximate cause finding.

The rulés by which we must determine whether there is any evidence in the record to support the challenged finding are well settled. They require us to accept as true any legally competent evidence in the record that supports the finding; to resolve all conflicts and inconsistencies in the evidence in favor of the finding; to interpret the evidence and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom in favor of the finding; and to disregard the evidence and inferences that are against the finding. McLain v. Hodge (Tex.Civ.App., 1972, writ ref. n. r. e.) 474 S.W.2d 772, 774. Briefly reviewed in this light, the record supports the following facts.

The collision occurred at 4:30 P.M. on a “mild, clear, sunny day.” Woodruff was familiar with the crossing, and had traveled it at least eight times previously. The crossing contains a single set of tracks which run generally east and west. The tracks curve slightly to the south on either side of the crossing. Josey Lane is perpendicular to the track. Shortly before the collision, Woodruff and one Dan Rhodes, driving separate trucks, turned south onto Josey Lane at a point about five hundred feet north of the track. From that point to the track, Josey Lane inclines upward, and the incline is “moderately steep.’ Rhodes was ISO to 200 feet ahead of Woodruff. Rhodes’ load was 20,000 pounds and Woodruff’s load was 18,000 pounds. Both were traveling in low range gear, and Woodruff’s speed was five to fifteen miles per hour. The train was traveling east at a speed of thirty to thirty-five miles per hour. As the train approached a whistleboard located approximately one-fourth mile from the crossing the engineer began blowing the train’s “trumpet type” horn, and continued doing so until after it had passed the crossing. The bell of the train was ringing before the whistleboard was reached, and continued ringing through the crossing. o The bell makes a “loud dinging-noise” and can be heard for a distance of at least one-fourth mile.

Claude Eugene Meyer and William Ramon Chambers witnessed the collision. Meyer was about 250 yards northeast of the crossing on a company parking lot. Meyer and Chambers’ wife work for the company. Meyer was preparing to go home, and Chambers was waiting for his wife. Meyer’s attention was attracted toward the crossing because he heard “a continuous or several blasts from a horn on a train.

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484 S.W.2d 437, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodruff-v-st-louis-southwestern-railway-lines-texapp-1972.