Opinion ID: 1205103
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: duty of union pacific

Text: Plaintiffs assail the court of appeals' decision in favor of Union Pacific on the basis that the court did not apply the proper standard of care to the railroad to protect highway motorists crossing its tracks. Plaintiffs concede that the State, through its Department of Transportation (UDOT), not Union Pacific, has the authority to determine at which crossings automatic warning lights and gates shall be installed and maintained under Utah Code Ann. §§ 54-4-14 to -15.1. However, plaintiffs argue that UDOT's responsibility under the statute should not relieve Union Pacific from the duty to petition and urge UDOT to upgrade the adequacy of the warning signs at dangerous crossings because it is Union Pacific who is or should be aware of the danger. Plaintiffs further suggest that in extreme cases a railroad should have the duty to bring suit to compel UDOT to do so. The court of appeals properly observed that under our case law a railroad cannot be held liable for crossing conditions unless the crossing is more than ordinarily hazardous. Duncan v. Union Pacific R.R., 790 P.2d at 598 (citing Bridges v. Union Pacific R.R., 26 Utah 2d 281, 488 P.2d 738 (1971); English v. Southern Pacific Co., 13 Utah 407, 45 P. 47 (1896)). The court of appeals further explained: In the case of railroad crossings, the costs of eliminating the hazard, such as by installing overpasses at all railroad crossings, including rural ones, does not warrant a duty of care so rigorous that simply having a railroad cross a street is tortious. Rather, for a railroad to be liable for a crossing mishap, there must be something about the railroad's right of way that creates a hazard to motorists greater than the hazard presented by the simple fact that the railroad and the street intersect. Duncan, 790 P.2d at 599. In the instant case, the trial court found that the crossing was not more than ordinarily hazardous because plaintiffs could not demonstrate, or even suggest, what more Union Pacific could have done to make this crossing safer, short of installing automatic warning lights and signs and gates, which admittedly was not its responsibility. In English v. Southern Pacific Co ., we pointed out that a crossing might be found to be more than ordinarily hazardous if it was in a thickly populated portion of a city; if the view of the tracks was obstructed because of the railroad itself or because of natural objects; if the crossing was frequented by heavy traffic so that approaching trains could not be heard; or if, for any reason, devices employed at the crossing were rendered inadequate to warn the public of the danger of an approaching train. English, 13 Utah at 419-20, 45 P. at 50. Recently our court of appeals found a crossing more than ordinarily hazardous and held the railroad liable for a crossing accident because it had allowed wild vegetation on the right-of-way to obscure the vision of oncoming trains from approaching motorists. Gleave v. Denver & Rio Grande Western R.R., 749 P.2d 660 (Utah Ct.App.1988). The cost of removing the vegetation was minimal compared to the public benefit of being able to see an approaching train. Plaintiffs' contention that Union Pacific should have a duty to petition, urge, and even bring suit against UDOT to compel it to improve the adequacy of the warning devices at a crossing is unavailing. Active warning devices are funded 90 percent from federal funds and 10 percent from the entity with jurisdiction over the highway in question. Federal funding is generally available only for eight to ten projects in Utah each year. UDOT has developed and uses a hazard index rating approved by the Federal Highway Administration as one means of determining the priority of crossings for upgrading the adequacy of warning devices presently in place. UDOT's team, with the railroad and local government representatives, makes on-site inspections of crossings throughout the state, using the hazard index. Priorities are then established, based on the degree of hazard found at the crossings surveyed. In view of this careful and orderly approach to the safety problem at crossings, we decline to impose a duty on railroads to circumvent that process by petitioning, urging, or bringing suit against UDOT to change the order of its prioritizations. On Utah's roads and highways, there are more than 1,000 railroad crossings which lack active warning devices. Requiring a railroad to petition UDOT in order to improve the signage at one crossing without considering whether a greater hazard exists at other crossings would make little sense. The Droubay Road crossing had been inspected by UDOT and assigned a priority rating. Other crossings inspected at that time were given a higher priority rating because the potential hazard was thought to be greater than that of the Droubay crossing. The public is better served by a system such as that devised by UDOT, which takes into consideration all the crossings in Utah. We conclude that the court of appeals did not err in affirming the summary judgment in favor of Union Pacific.