Case Name: Donald O. SHAFFER, Jr. v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL GULF RAILROAD COMPANY and the Parish of East Baton Rouge
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1985-10-08
Citations: 479 So. 2d 927
Docket Number: No. 84 CA 0788
Parties: Donald O. SHAFFER, Jr. v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL GULF RAILROAD COMPANY and the Parish of East Baton Rouge.
Judges: Before GROVER L. COVINGTON, C.J., and WATKINS and SHORTESS, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 479
Pages: 927–931

Head Matter:
Donald O. SHAFFER, Jr. v. ILLINOIS CENTRAL GULF RAILROAD COMPANY and the Parish of East Baton Rouge.
No. 84 CA 0788.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
Oct. 8, 1985.
On Rehearing Dec. 26, 1985.
Warren J. Hebert, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee Donald 0. Shaffer, Jr.
Frank J. Gremillion, Baton Rouge, for defendant/third party defendant-appellee Parish of East Baton Rouge.
Oscar L. Shoenfelt, III, Baton Rouge, for third party defendant-appellee Board of Supervisors, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College.
Christine Lipsey, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company.
John C. Young, Baton Rouge, for third party defendant-appellee State of Louisiana-Department of Transportation & Development.
Before GROVER L. COVINGTON, C.J., and WATKINS and SHORTESS, JJ.

Opinion:
WATKINS, Judge.
Defendant, Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (ICGRR) appeals from a final judgment which held it liable for injuries sustained by plaintiff, Donald 0. Shaffer, Jr., when his motorcycle struck a railroad crossing and went out of control. The other defendant named in the plaintiff's petition, East Baton Rouge Parish, was discharged from liability by the trial court. ICGRR's third party demands against Louisiana State University (LSU), the State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), and East Baton Rouge Parish were likewise dismissed by the trial court.
From the record it appears that on June 20, 1981, Shaffer was operating his motorcycle at approximately 35 miles per hour in a southerly direction on Nicholson Drive on the LSU campus, when he hit a pothole between the rails at the crossing, causing his bike to strike a median strip between the lanes. Shaffer was thrown off the bike and suffered numerous bruises and abrai-sons. Fortunately, he suffered no disabling injuries of a permanent nature.
The record indicates that there were no outside witnesses to the incident. However, photographs taken of the crossing shortly after the accident clearly indicate that there existed a substantial defect which was the cause of Shaffer's accident. We agree with the trial court's finding that there was no evidence to support defendant's plea of contributory negligence. We also agree with the trial court's assessment that the failure to maintain the crossing constituted negligence on the part of the agency or corporation who had responsibility for the maintenance of the track. Therefore, the primary issue before us is which agency or corporation had the responsibility to maintain the LSU spur track crossing.
It is the position of ICGRR that the trial court erred in finding that it was charged with the maintenance of the crossing. Since the LSU spur track was already in existence when Nicholson Drive (La. Hwy. 30) was constructed by the Department of Highways (predecessor to DOTD), ICGRR contends that LSA-R.S. 48:382(B) is controlling, not LSA-R.S. 45:324, and therefore DOTD was charged with the responsibility of maintaining the crossing and should be held liable.
In addition to the statutes cited by counsel, there are also other statutes which our research indicates are applicable to the duty to maintain grade crossings.
These statutes which govern the duty to maintain grade crossings lead to opposite results. LSA-R.S. 45:324 as interpreted in Brandon v. Texas & New Orleans R. Co., 169 So. 254 (La.App. 1st Cir.1936), Dantone v. Standard Machine Co., Inc., 195 So. 39 (La.App. 1st Cir.1940), and Bardfield v. New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, 371 So.2d 783 (La.1979), appears to indicate that liability attaches to the railroad company in the event the crossing is not properly maintained. Conversely, LS-R.S. 48:382(B) indicates that when a highway is laid across an existing grade crossing, the duty is on the state agency that laid the highway to see that the crossing is properly maintained. This statute was enacted in 1942.
However, LSA-R.S. 45:323(A) \ a statute last amended in 1981, indicates the duty to maintain is on the railroad company, regardless of when the crossing was laid. Further, LSA-R.S. 45:841 provides that the Louisiana Public Service Commission shall require the owner of a railroad crossing any public road constructed or to be constructed to maintain the crossing.
We are then faced with statutes which are irreconcilably in conflict. No ready rule of statutory construction enables us to reconcile the conflict. The proper solution we find is to hold that as the statutes impose a duty to maintain the crossing on either the DOTD or ICGRR, they in effect impose liability on both. Otherwise we are left with the task of reconciling the irreconcilable, or drawing a non-existent distinguishing line between statutes that are essentially indistinguishable.
We therefore find both the DOTD and ICGRR by statute had a duty to maintain this crossing. Hence, both are liable. ICGRR has a third party demand pending against the DOTD, which is not made a party defendant by plaintiff. We find the DOTD liable to ICGRR for one-half in contribution.
We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court in holding ICGRR liable, and render judgment in favor of ICGRR and against the DOTD for one-half the sum awarded, all cost to be borne jointly by ICGRR and DOTD.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND RENDERED.
. LSA-R.S. 45:324 reads as follows:
Where railroads, tramroads, dirt or plank roads cross any highway, the corporation shall so construct the works as not to hinder, impede or obstruct its safe and convenient use. Wherever railroads, tramroads, dirt or plank roads shall be constructed or dug across any plantation or land in cultivation, or that may be cultivated the corporation shall so construct the work as not to hinder, impede or obstruct the drainage of the land. Should any railroad, tramroad, dirt or plank road cross any tide waters, lakes, inlets, rivers or streams, or other bodies of water, the company may erect for the sole and exclusive use of such railroad, tramroad, dirt or plank road, the bridges required for crossing, but such bridges shall be so constructed as not to obstruct or unnecessarily impede the navigation of said waters.
LSA-R.S. 48:382(b) reads as follows:
B. When a highway is constructed across such an existing facility or utility, the agency constructing or causing the construction of the highway shall provide for the construction of an adequate and appropriate crossing and for the subsequent maintenance and replacement of the crossing in accordance with current maintenance standards.
LSA-R.S. 45:323(A) reads as follows:
A. All railroads, except those owned and operated by a political corporation, railways and street railway companies in any subdivi sion of the state, whose tracks are laid on or across the public street of any municipality, shall keep in good condition and suitable for vehicular traffic that portion of the street lying between the rails of the tracks of such railroad and railways, and for a distance of two feet on the outside of each rail of the tracks used or operated by them, together with the necessary headers; and when the street is paved, whether before or after the tracks are laid, they shall pave, repave, repair, and keep in good condition and suitable for vehicular traffic that portion of the public street lying between the rails of the tracks used by such railroad or railways, and for a distance of two feet on the outside of each rail of the tracks used or operated by them, with such character or kind of paving, together with the necessary headers, as may, from time to time, be designated by the governing body of the municipality. If the ties of any track shall extend for a greater distance than two feet on the outside of the rails, the duty and obligation of the railroads or railways to pave, repave, repair, and keep in good condition said pavement, shall extend to the ends of the ties. In addition the railroad or railways shall in all cases install and maintain the necessary headers to separate that portion of the public street to be paved, repaved, repaired, and maintained by them from the other portions of the public street.
LSA-R.S. 45:841 reads as follows:
The Louisiana Public Service Commission shall require the owner, possessor or operator of any railway, railroad, tram road, log road, transportation, irrigation or drainage canal, or syphon, crossing any public road already constructed or which may be constructed, to construct and maintain a suitable and convenient crossing over such public road, the crossing to extend to the limits of the right of way, or fifty feet from the center of such railway, railroad, tram road, log road, transportation, irrigation or drainage canal or sy-phon, in accordance with the standard specifications furnished by the department of highways in respect to such crossings.
. We are unable to render judgment in favor of plaintiff and against the DOTD, as the DOTD was not made a party defendant by plaintiff.
This issue was previously considered in DeBlieux v. P.S. Sons Painting Inc., 405 So.2d 600 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1981); Heckel v. Travelers Insurance Company, 340 So.2d 363 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1976); and Ferrantelli v. Sanchez, 90 So.2d 351 (Court of Appeal, Orleans 1956). Those courts held under LSA-C.C.P. art. 1111 it was necessary that the plaintiff amend his petition to include third party defendant as a direct defendant before judgment could be rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the third party defendant.