Court Opinion

ID: 9884427
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:56:17.045088+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:17.371304
License: Public Domain

Mr. Presiding Justice Schwartz specially concurring: I desire to make clear the issue which has divided the court. We are all agreed that the Safety Appliance Act requires a railroad company to equip cars with couplers that will couple automatically on impact without the necessity of men going between the ends of the cars. It is no defense to show that the couplers were in general use and of such design as to couple on impact, nor that in normal operation they would do so. In Atlantic City R. R. Co. v. Parker, 242 U. S. 56, an engine had backed for the purpose of coupling with a car and had failed to couple by impact. The plaintiff, noticing that the drawbar was not in line with the one on the engine, put in his arm for the purpose of straightening it and thus making the coupling possible, and was caught. The court held that while some lateral play in the drawbar must be allowed to enable a train to round a curve and while the car in question was on a curve, which would tend to throw the coupler out of line, nevertheless the question was for the jury. In the instant case, plaintiff saw that the drawbar was out of line three or four inches and therefore would not couple on impact even on a straight track. It could only be put into alignment by his going between the cars and applying manual force to the correction of the situation. The one distinction made by defendant and our dissenting colleague, between the case before us and Atlantic City R. R. Co. v. Parker, supra, is that in the instant case it is contended there was no prior attempt to couple. As the opinion of the court shows, there is evidence from which the jury could have inferred otherwise. However, this is a distinction without substance and not founded on any interpretation of the law in letter or spirit. In all other respects, Atlantic City R. R. Co. v. Parker is, in the vernacular of our local bar, a “cow” case (on all fours). I admit that some of the language in the case of Affolder v. N. Y., C. & St. L. R. Co., 339 U. S. 96, can be construed to support the opposing point of view. A careful examination, however, reveals that the Aff older case was submitted to the jury very much in the same manner as the instant case, and the court there, as here, sustained the finding of the jury. To understand the true meaning of the Aff older decision it is necessary first to consider the nature of the coupling operation. In order that the parts may join, the jaw of at least one of the couplers must be open. Ordinarily and normally, when uncoupled, the jaws would be open, but by reason of some prior violent impact or for some other reason, occasions arise when the jaws of both couplers are closed. In order that they may be opened without the necessity of a man going between the cars a “pin lifter” is provided which extends to the outside of the car and can be operated to force the coupler to an open position. The drawbar, which constitutes the coupling mechanism in its entirety, must be allowed some lateral motion in order to permit the rounding of curves. The normal deviation is 1% inches on either side and we gather from the evidence that within these limits coupling can be effected. In the Affolder case the defense was that couplers had been provided in compliance with the act and that failure to couple was due to the fact that the couplers were not opened. On appeal from the judgment against it, defendant contended that from the instructions of the court the jury were misled into believing that failure to couple on impact required them to find that there was a violation of the Safety Appliance Act. The Court of Appeals upheld the position of defendant. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and held that the charge to the jury was not erroneous. In the course of the court’s opinion, after holding that failure to provide couplers that will couple automatically on impact is the basis of the action, it was stated: “ . . . this assumes that the coupler was placed in a position to operate on impact. ... if ‘the failure of these two cars to couple on impact was because the coupler on the Pennsylvania car had not been properly opened,’ the railroad had a good defense.” This was largely incidental comment. Moreover, the court was there referring to the opening of the jaws of the coupler and not to the alignment of the drawbar. The opening of the jaws of the coupler could have been accomplished as we have stated without a man going between the cars. As to the drawbar in the instant case, there was no provision for putting that into position without requiring a switchman to go between the cars. In the opinion of the court, Mr. Justice Scanlan has examined the instructions and one of them, which specifically defines the duty of the defendant, was given at the instance of the defendant. There can be no such complaint with respect thereto as there was in the Aff older case. Our decision is not based on a holding that the defendant is at all times required to equip its cars with couplers having drawbars which will center themselves under all circumstances without manual intervention, as our dissenting colleague assumes. It is based on the fact that the jury was properly instructed and found that at the time and place in question the car in question was not equipped with couplers capable of coupling automatically on impact without the necessity of a man going between the cars, and there is ample evidence in the record to sustain the jury’s verdict.