Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-29
Hits Jury's Report
On Crossing Tragedy
To the Editor Of The star:

To the Editor OF the star:
Another tragedy Of errors" has been
enacted as the result Of . fatal grade
crossing accident in Berwyn. The
The shock Of the accident was not
enough, but to It must be added the
amazing report Of the local coroner'a
Jury. In view Of all the published re-
ports and statements on the accident,
it doesn't seem quite fair to accuse the
unfortunate engineers Of voluntary sui
eide. Until we have full report from
official sources, including the testimony
Of the fireman, 1t will be impossible TO
say that the engineers did not do all
within their power to stop the train be-
fore they had leaped. One passenger
on the train reported that his car was
'cnveloped in fire." II 1t was that bad
behind the locomotive, the engine itself
must have been an inferno on wheels.
Under such conditions 1t Is entirely pos
sible that physical suffering will ex-
tinguish mental efficiency.
Furthermore, did not the jury err In
going SO far as to exonerate Miss
Thomas Of all blame? It does not ap-
pear that she stopped before she went
require all drivers to do. It does not
appear that her car was operating In
gear to prevent 1t from Sailing. It
does not appear that she used proper
caution when she attempted to cross
when one gate was down, even though
the other was up. Any obstruction to
her passage was sign Of danger, which
she should have needed. These pre-
cautions are required by law, as stated
in O decision Of the United States Su-
preme Court through Mr.. Justice
~. Svn ~ t1A a
&c Ohio Railroad VS.. Dora Goodman.
Quoting from the opinion: when a
man goes upon q railroad track, he
knows that he goes to q place where
he will be killed If a train comes upon
him before he Is clear of the track.
He knows that he must stop for the
train, not the train stop Tor him. In
such circumstances 1t seems to us that
If q driver cannot be sure otherwise
he must stop and get out of the We
hicle, although he will not often be
required to do more than to stop and
look. It seems to us that II he relies
upon not hearing the train or any sig
nal and takes no further precaution,
he does so at his own risk"
In the present case the last sentence
Is most important one. for this Is the
law Of the land and just as binding as
any other. Therefore, instead of the
railroad being at fault. it certainly ap-
pears that responsibility lies on the
very parties who diSclaim 1t. But pos
sibly coroner's juries have not read SUI
preme Court decisions. 1t seems to be
another case of railroad batting"
which q great many communities de-
light in. Two cases in a nearby suburb
emphasize this point A college profess
sor was killed while standing on the
track, and the railroad was blamed for
not having a fence between the tracks
to prevent people from crossing. The
next accident at this point was caused
because the fence was there. A little
boy was watching q track gang and
didn't see the train until 1t was too late
to jump down OF of the fence and clear
the track. A foreman couldn't drag
the boy to safety because the fence cut
his reach short. Again the railroad
was blamed, presumably for having the
fence there.
Surely the railroads are doing all
they can to prevent accidents, and
sometimes mechanical protection de-
vices fail But that doesn't excuse any
of us from using extreme caution at
train travelling at a 60-mile rate will
hit car with force OF 5000, 000. 900
pounds! Who wants to take chance?
But people do; crossing gates are
smashed every day, and fourth OF
all grade crossing accidents are caused
BY people running into the sides OF
trains anywhere from the locomotive to
the last car! Railroads are rightly pro-
testing against this sort Of thing and
are protecting themselves in the courts.
L. I. McDOUGLE, Jr.