Opinion ID: 2275645
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pervasive or Habitual Use Exception

Text: The final exception to the minimal duty imposed on railroads involves private crossings pervasively used by the public. Under this exception, if the crossing is a private one and sufficient evidence is introduced to show habitual use of the crossing by the public, then this use may impose the duty of lookout and warning. Hunt's Adm'r, 254 S.W.2d at 707. Although we have not decided a definite number that qualifies as habitual use, we have held that this exception is inapplicable when sixty, seventy-five, one hundred, one hundred and twenty-five, or one hundred and fifty persons cross daily. Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Arrowood's Adm'r, 280 Ky. 658, 134 S.W.2d 224, 226 (1939). Here however, the Court of Appeals held that the number of persons utilizing the BCS crossing on a daily basis was well under the level required for the exception to apply. According to the record, the Sanitation Company employed a couple dozen workers and, other than Hester and Burris, only an occasional customer paying a bill used the crossing. Therefore, the Court of Appeals found, as a matter of law, that this exception was not applicable. We agree.