Opinion ID: 1671712
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Hamlin Case

Text: The injured motorist, Cinda S. Karjala, was traveling on Brock Road in Madison County, at 4:00 a.m. in the morning in a patchy fog and attempting to cross a railroad intersection when her car collided with a Norfolk Southern Railway train. The plaintiff, as conservator of the estate of Ms. Karjala, who is now incapacitated, brought this action against Norfolk Southern Railway Company and its engineer, Danny Steve Garner. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment and in support of their motion they presented an affidavit of a witness who had been following Ms. Karjala. The witness stated, I was watching Ms. Karjala, to see if she slowed, but her brake lights never came on and I was not able to tell that she slowed at all. (C.R. 143.) The crossing was marked with advance warning signs, pavement markings, a stop sign, and crossbucks. The defendants also filed another affidavit, executed by Dykes T. Rushing, who was employed by the Alabama State Department of Transportation as an office engineer; he stated that federal funds were used in the installation of the warning signs and pavement markings at the Brock Road crossing. [5] The defendants moved for a summary judgment, based on the holding of the United States Supreme Court in CSX Transp., Inc. v. Easterwood, 507 U.S. 658, 113 S.Ct. 1732, 123 L.Ed.2d 387 (1993). The trial court entered a summary judgment with the following order: This matter is presented to the Court on various motions including the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Because this court is of the opinion that the plaintiff's claims against the defendants for negligence and wantonness are preempted by the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (FRSA), 45 U.S.C. §§ 421-447 (1988 and Supp. II 1990), it is necessary only to address the defendants' motion for summary judgment based on the claim of preemption. In this case, the plaintiff [Douglas K. Hamlin] seeks to recover from the defendants damages for personal injuries which [the plaintiff] claims resulted from the defendants' negligence and/or wantonness in the maintenance of a railroad crossing located on Brock Road in Madison County, Alabama. On the occasion of the accident made the basis of this suit, [Ms. Karjala] drove her motor vehicle into the 106th train car of the defendants' train. The accident occurred at night and in patchy fog. The plaintiff's claims are based on allegations that the crossing was ultrahazardous; that the defendants failed to provide and maintain adequate warning devices at the crossing; and, that the defendants were negligent and/or wanton in failing to have illumination devices on the side of its train cars. In support of its motion for summary judgment, the defendants have presented the affidavit of Dykes T. Rushing, Office Engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation, who is responsible for the oversight of the Alabama State Department of Transportation Records of Federal Aid Projects. He is also the custodian of those records. He testified that the Brock Road crossing at issue in this case involved participation by the Federal Highway Administration and utilized federal funds for the improvement of that crossing including the installation of warning devices. This evidence is not disputed. Based on these undisputed facts, this Court concludes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and [that] the defendants are entitled to a judgment as a matter of law on the plaintiff's claims of failure to provide and maintain adequate warning devices at the crossing. This decision is based on the preemption of such claims as set out in Borden v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 843 F.Supp. 1410 (M.D.Ala.1993), and CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Easterwood, [507 U.S. at 668,] 113 S.Ct. at 1740-41. With regard to the plaintiff's claims that the [defendant railway] failed to have illumination devices on its train cars, this Court finds that there is no federal or state duty to provide such illumination devices. The Federal Railway Safety Act regulations occupy the field of warning devices and railroad safety so as to preempt any state law requirements for such illumination devices. Accordingly, the Court finds that summary judgment is due to be granted in favor of the defendants as to that claim. It is therefore ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the Court that summary judgment be and the same is hereby entered in favor of the defendants on the claims of the plaintiff.... Costs are taxed to the plaintiff. (C.R. 444-46.)