Union Railroad v. State ex rel. Steever
Union Railroad v. State ex rel. Steever
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case was before the Court in 70 Md., 69, on the appeal of the present appellee, who then complained that the case had been erroneously taken from the jury. The case having been remanded for a new trial, the verdict was in favor of the plaintiff, and the defendants have appealed, because the Court below refused appellants’ third and fourth prayers. The facts are so fully stated in the former appeal they need not be recapitulated here.
The third prayer of the defendants, which appellants contend ought to have been granted, is as follows, viz: “If the jury shall believe, from the evidence, that the bell of the engine was ringing from the time it left Canton Junction until the accident happened, and that there was a light upon the lid of the tender, in the position described by the defendants’ witnesses, during that time, and that from a point on the turnpike, about six hundred and fifty feet east of the crossing, all the way to the crossing, one driving the turnpike could hear the bell and see the light, then the. plaintiff is not entitled to recover, and the verdict of the jury must he for the defendants.”
Repeated decisions in this State have settled the law that in approaching a railroad crossing, it is the imperative duty, of persons designing and desiring to cross a railroad track at a crossing, to look and listen for a possibly approaching train. Pennsylvania Railroad Co. vs. State, use of McGirr, et al., 61 Md., 121; Balto. & Poto. R. R. Co. vs. State, use of Stansbury, 54 Md., 656; State, use of Bacon vs. Balto. & Potomac R. R., 58 Md., 490; Maryland Central Railroad vs. Neubeur, 62 Md., 399; Phil., Wilm. & Balto. R. R. Co. vs. Hogeland, 66 Md., 149; Cumberland Valley Railroad Co. vs. Maugans, 61 Md., 61.
This prayer puts it to the jury to find whether the bell of the engine was ringing all the while it was approaching the crossing; and whether there was a light on the tender of the locomotive, and whether the bell could be heard and the light could be seen by one driving on the turnpike; and then instructs the jury that if there was such visible light, and such audible ringing of the bell, then the plaintiff could not recover. It is clear, if the deceased did hear the bell, or did see the approaching light of the train, and did disregard these signals of warning, he recklessly imperilled his life, and no recovery should be had. In Neubeur’s Case, 62 Md., 399, the law is thus stated: “They should in .all cases, before proceeding to cross, carefully look and listen, to ascertain whether a train is approaching; * * * and if
There was evidence of the facts recited in the prayer, and though there was conflict of testimony on the subject, it was for the jury to decide what was the truth; so that we can not say that the appellants were not injured by the rejection of this prayer. The prayers which were granted at the appellants’ instance did explicitly tell the jury that the burden was on the plaintiff to show that the injury was caused solely by
It is possible that the jury might have supposed, from the phraseology of the second prayer of the defendants, that unless they found the existence of the light and the ringing of the bell also, they could not find the defendants protected; whereas, a disregard of either signal, if seen and understood, was fatally contributory on the part of the deceased. The engine was backing, and the head light was not shining in the direction of the deceased’s approach ; but the proof of the appellants is, that there was a light on the top of the tender which could be seen as the train approached; and that all the while after the train started the bell was ringing, until the crossing was passed. Now, if these signals were given, and the jui-y so found, and they also found that the light was visible to the deceased as he approached the crossing, and the bell ringing could be heard where deceased was, then he ought to have seen and heard, and the defendants had the clear right to have the jury so told.
In respect to the appellants’ fourth prayer we see no error in its rejection. That prayer sought to put before
. For the error in rejecting the appellants’ third prayer the judgment must be reversed.
Judgment reversed, and neto trial ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The Union Railroad Company of Baltimore, and The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company v. State of Maryland, use of Annie Steever, and others
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published