Peeples v. Seaboard Air Line Railway
Peeples v. Seaboard Air Line Railway
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Mr. J. W. Peeples, going along the principal street of Estill, a town in this State, found the street obstructed by a train of cars on the defendant road. There were three tracks across the street, and a freight train was across the middle track. There was a construction train on the first track. The freight train was moving off, and Mr. Peeples crossed the' first track and waited for the freight train to clear the street. For some unknown reason, Mr. Peeples walked backwards from the moving freight train. In the meantime the construction train on track No. 1 moved slowly forward, and Mr. Peeples moved too close to track No. 1, and the construction train hit him, threw him under the train, and injured him to such an extent that he died in-about two hours. The plaintiff administered on his estate and brought an action in behalf of the beneficiaries under Lord Campbell's Act, and the suit resulted in favor of the defendant company. The administrator then brought this action under the survival statute for the injury to Mr. Peeples, asking for both actual and punitive damages. The defendant, in its answer, denied negligence and wilfulness, and set up the former judgment as res adjudícala, and pleaded contributory negligence. The defendant moved for a direction of verdict on negligence and wilfulness. This was refused, and a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for $10,000. From the judgment entered on this verdict, the defendant appealed.
*118 The answer is that it is not. The case of Bennett v. Railway, 97 S. C. 27, 81 S. E. 189, is complete authority. At page 31 of 97 S. C., at page 190 of 81 S. E., this Court says: “There must be separate verdicts and separate judgments, and hence there should be separate actions and separate trials.”
The opinion in that case is exceedingly clear and leaves no room for doubt. It follows that all efforts made to go into the record of the former trial must fail, and the exceptions need not be separately considered. '
2. The appellant claims that there was no evidence that the deceased suffered anything, and, therefore, there is no basis of recovery. This position cannot be sustained.
Strother v. Railway, 47 S. C. 381, 25 S. E. 273: “We will next consider the second ground upon which the defendant based its motion for a nonsuit. The failure on the part of the defendant’s servants to ring the bell or sound the whistle in the manner provided by statute was negligence per se. When the defendant violates the requirements of the statute as to ringing the bell or sounding the whistle, and a person is injured by its locomotive, while crossing a highway, street, or traveled place it will be presumed that such negligence caused the injury, unless the testimony shows that the injury was caused in some other manner, which,was not done in this case. The first exception is,, .therefore, overruled.”
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Peeples v. Seaboard Air Line Railway.
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- Syllabus
- 1. Judgment — Judgment Denying Recovery for Death Not Res Judicata in Action Under Survival Statute. — Judgment for defendant in an action by the administrator of one killed on a railroad’s track, brought in behalf of the beneficiaries under Lord Campbell’s Act, is not res judicata in a second action by the administrator under the survival statute for the injury to decedent, after which he lived some two hours. 2. Death — Evidence of Suffering Sufficient to Take Question of Recovery Under Survival Act to the Jury. — In an action under the survival act for the suffering of one fatally injured on a .railroad track, evidence that deceased suffered after his injury prior to his death held sufficient to take the question to the jury. 3. Death — Evidence of Negligence and Wilfulness Sufficient for Jury. — In an action under the survival act for suffering following fatal injury on a railroad track, evidence of defendant railroad’s negligence and wilfulness in operating train without signal and warning held sufficient to justify submission of those questions to the jury as grounds for recovery of actual and punitive damages. 4. Railroads — Contributory Negligence of Pedestrian Entitled to Rely on Statutory Warning from; Train Held Question for Jury. —In an action involving the issue of contributory negligence of a pedestrian fatally injured at an obstructed crossing, whether the statutory warning from the construction train which struck decedent was given held a question for the jury. 5. Railroads — Failure to Give Signals Presumed Cause of Injury.— Where the statutory signals are not given by a train, and one is struck on the railroad’s track, there is a presumption that the failure to give the signals was the proximate cause of the injury.