Court Opinion

ID: 9670065
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:13:49.441891+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:02.097861
License: Public Domain

Simmons, C. J.,
dissenting.
I dissent, particularly disagreeing with the rule stated, and applied by the court that: “* * * outside the limits of cities, villages, and towns no rate of speed of a train is in itself unlawful or evidence of negligence.” The corollary of the stated rule would be that inside the *354limits of cities, villages, and towns the rate of speed of a train generally and in itself could be evidence of negligence.
A contention that the rate of speed was made unlawful by ordinance or statute is not involved here.
The court by this rule makes the question of whether or not speed “in itself” is evidence of negligence depend on the sole circumstance of whether or not the train is on one side or the other of the legal line that marks the limit of a city or village corporate boundary.
It is a matter of common knowledge that there are cities and villages in this state whose corporate boundaries are in part in fact out in undeveloped and “open country.” It is also a matter of common knowledge that there are many of our cities whose growth has been such that the urban development in fact extends well beyond the legal boundaries. In such cities the corporate line makes no distinction in fact in the areas traversed by a railroad so far as questions of negligent operation are concerned.
The rule now adopted has no logical basis. It is an impractical, if not an artificial, rule.
The fault of the rule, as to the issue of negligence, is that it first states an immaterial circumstance to be considered, and then by the word “itself” eliminates from consideration all other circumstances, material or otherwise, except speed. By that process all the circumstances of an accident which go to establish negligence can be put aside one by one. That result has followed in this case.
Speed cannot be separated and set apart from all the other circumstances of an accident such as is involved here. It is difficult to conceive a case where there are no circumstances other than speed and location within or without corporate limits. The decisions cited by the court and those in this dissent illustrate that fact. They deal with “dangerous rate” óf speed; “failure to give warning of approach”; “failure to obey the signal”; “ordi*355nary highway crossing”; crossings “in the open country”; “sparsely-settled country”; “thickly settled neighborhood”; “thickly inhabited neighborhood”; “in that locality”; “obscure crossings”; a “clear day”; a “bright still day”; “snow,” “wind,” and “cuts”; “under the conditions obtaining at the crossing”; and “persons accustomed to walk upon the tracks.”
Courts and juries are now to be asked on which side* of a legal line did the accident happen. If the location of an accident happens to be a short distance on one side of the legal line, speed “by itself” may be evidence of negligence and if a short distance on the other, speed “by itself” is not evidence of negligence, and that settles the issue of speed as evidence of negligence.
Heretofore the question has been determined on consideration of all the material relevant circumstances. Here plaintiff claims, and specifically recites, other circumstances which it claims should have béen, with speed, submitted to the jury for consideration to determine whether “under the circumstances” negligence was shown. The court applies the rule first to take speed out of the case, and then having removed that element, with which the other circumstances are associated, ignores all other circumstances. It is at least an effective rule in this instance.
The trial court instructed the jury: “You are instructed that the plaintiff has failed to prove that defendants were guilty of any negligence in connection with the.speed of the train, and therefore the charge of negligence in that particular should be disregarded by you. Speed of fifty miles per hour of this train was not a negligent speed.” Plaintiff assigns the giving of the instruction as error, and advances this proposition of law: “The whole question as to whether under all the circumstances the speed of the train was such as to constitute negligence on the part of the defendants should have been submitted to the jury under proper instructions.”
*356The plaintiff set out 10 “circumstances surrounding this accident” which it contends the trial court ignored and which it argues should have been considered with speed. Plaintiff contends here that these circumstances must be considered along with the speed fact. I do not find consideration of those circumstances in the opinion of the court.
‘ Defendant advanced the proposition that: “Unless the speed of the train was a proximate cause it should not be submitted to the jury.” It argues that speed was not á proximate cause.
All emphases in this dissent are mine.
The court’s opinion on this point cites first Missouri P. Ry. Co. v. Hansen, 48 Neb. 232, 66 N. W. 1105. We there held it was error to fail to instruct “ * * that no rate of speed is of itself negligence, except where the rate of speed is prescribed or specified by some law or ordinance, and * * * that the defendant company, in the operation of its trains over its tracks outside of any city, or in the absence of any express law to the contrary, has the right to operate its trains at any rate of speed consistent for the safe and proper conduct of its búsiness; and in this case, unless you find the defendant guilty of some negligence alleged in the petition other than the operation of its train at the rate of twenty-five miles per hour, your verdict must be for the defendant.’ ” The syllabus says: “That a passenger train was run at the rate of twenty-five miles per hour outside the limits of a city or town, even in a thickly settled neighborhood and at a point where some persons were accustomed to walk upon the tracks, is not in itself and alone sufficient evidence of negligence.” We there considered the other circumstances. In the body of the opinion it is said: “It has been held that outside the limits of cities and towns no rate of speed is in itself unlawful or negligent. (Burlington & M. R. R. Co. v. Wendt, 12 Neb., 76; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Grablin, 38 Neb., 90.)”
*357The Wendt case in 12 Neb. 76, 10 N. W. 546, was decided in 1881. There a cow was killed in city limits. Witnesses fixed the speed of the train at from 8 to 18 miles per hour. We there said in the body of the opinion: “In this sort of action, whether the injury be done within or without a city, doubtless the rate of speed may be of great importance in determining whether there was in fact negligence on the part of those in charge of the train, and responsible for its movements; but speed alone, unconnected with any other fact or circumstance, and more especially where it is not shown to have been unusual, has never, that we are aware of, been held sufficient to show gross negligence. Besides, it must be apparent upon the slightest reflection that no arbitrary rule as to the rate of speed at which a train of cars may not be run, with due regard for the safety of persons and property, can be applicable to all'portions of a town or city alike. Evidently a rate which in one portion, or under certain circumstances might be entirely reasonable, in another and more thickly inhabited portion, or under different circumstances, would very justly be deemed unwarrantable, and evince a most reckless disregard for the rights, both of persons and property.” It will be noted that we did not say speed, as a matter of law, should be detached and considered separately from the other circumstances, but when “unconnected with any other fact or circumstance” it is insufficient to show “gross negligence.” We further said: “As showing that speed alone, even although it be at an unlawful rate, is not sufficient to fix a liability for an injury, the case of Brown, Admr. v. The Buffalo and State line R. R. Co., 22 N. Y., 191, is in point.” This is the beginning of the rule here involved.
Brown v. Buffalo and State Line R. R. Co., 22 N. Y. 191, was an “in city” case where the rate of speed was prohibited by city ordinance. The question was whether the violation of the ordinance was alone evidence of negligence sufficient to charge the defendant with the *358consequences of the collision provided the injury would not have occurred except for such violation. In the body of the opinion it is said: “* * * and except for the ordinance, it was not, per se, unlawful for the defendants to run their trains at any speed, provided no actual want of care could be imputed to them. Whether there is negligence in fact usually depends upon a number of circumstances, and not unfrequently the rate of speed becomes quite material in determining the question. Under one class of circumstances, twenty miles would not be deemed unreasonable, while in another five miles or less would be regarded as culpable carelessness.” It was held that the running of the train at a speed greater than six miles per hour “unconnected with any actual negligence ” involved the defendant in no other consequences than the payment of the penalty.
The New York case (Brown v. Buffalo and State Line R. R. Co., supra,) cited in the Wendt case, supra, was directly overruled in Beisegel v. New York Central R. R. Co., 14 Abbott’s Practice Reports (N. S.) p. 29, in 1870, eleven years before we cited it. That was an “in city” case. The basis of the overruling was the limitation to the payment of the penalty. That is pointed out in Massoth v. Delaware and Hudson Canal Co., 64 N. Y. 524 (decided in 1876, five years before we decided the Wendt case). That was an “in city” case. The court said: “Irrespective of any ordinance or law regulating the speed of railroad trains, it was a question of fact whether the rate was excessive or dangerous in that locality, and if so found by the jury, and such excessive rate of speed caused the collision, the defendant was liable for the consequences.”
The next case cited in Missouri P. Ry. Co. v. Hansen, supra, is Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. Co. v. Grablin, 38 Neb. 90, 56 N. W. 796. That was an “in the country” case. The speed of the train was from 17 to 35 miles an hour. The question of the use of air brakes was involved. We held that the failure to have air brakes did not con*359tribute to the death unless the speed of the train was negligent. We said in the body of the opinion: “We are not prepared to say that ordinarily any rate of speed of a train, however high, outside of the limits of cities, towns, and villages is of itself negligence.” However, in the syllabus we said: “Outside the limits of cities, villages, and towns negligence cannot be imputed to a railroad company solely by reason of the speed of its train, however great. Whether under the circumstances the rate of speed is negligence is a question of fact.”
The second case cited as authority in the court’s opinion is Omaha & R. V. R. Co. v. Krayenbuhl, 48 Neb. 553, 67 N. W. 447. This was written by the same judge who wrote the Hansen case and was filed during the same term in 1896. That was an “in the country” case. There was snow and wind, and cuts, and a speed estimated at from 18 to 45 miles per hour. There was evidence not only of running the train at a dangerous rate of speed but also of failure to give warning of approach and disregard of a signal. We there said: “The point where the accident occurred was not within any town or city, and it has been repeatedly held that no rate of speed is of itself negligence under such circumstances.”
The next case cited in the court’s opinion is Omaha &. R. V. Ry. Co. v. Talbot, 48 Neb. 627, 67 N. W. 599. We said: “The negligence charged by Talbot to the Valley Company was that the train which injured him was behind schedule time; that it was running with great speed, and that no signal was given of its approach to the crossing. It is not possible that a train should always be on schedule time, and we do not think that the running of a train behind its schedule time is evidence which tends to prove negligence; and outside the limits of cities, villages, and towns no rate of speed of a railroad train, however great, is evidence of negligence.” We considered all the circumstances. We cited the Grablin and Hansen cases. We then explained our views by saying: “Railroad companies are organized and rail*360roads are built and operated for speed. Commerce, business, and the busy world are in haste. The civilization and genius of the age demand haste, demand speed, and to require railroad companies to move their trains at so slow a rate of speed that they could be easily stopped when approaching ordinary highway crossings in the country would be to seriously impair their usefulness as carriers and take a step backwards towards the sailboat and the stage coach.” We considered the other circumstances.
The syllabus point is: “Outside the limits of cities, villages, and towns, negligence cannot be imputed to a railroad company solely by reason of the speed of its train, however great.”
The next case cited in the opinion is White v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. Co., 93 Neb. 736, 141 N. W. 1038. That was an “in the open country” case involving a crossing which could be seen at a considerable distance in the direction from which the train was approaching. The train was going at least 50 miles an hour. We held: “In the open country, outside of cities, villages and towns, where there are no obscure crossings, negligence cannot be imputed to a railroad company solely by reason of the speed of its train.” It is noted that here again the other circumstances were considered. There we cited the Talbot case and Brown v. Chicago, B. & Q. Ry. Co., 88 Neb. 604, 130 N. W. 265. The syllabus in White v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. Co., supra, is: “It is not negligence for a railway company to operate a passenger train at the rate of 50 miles an hour, during a clear day, in the open country, where there are no obscure crossings.” The Brown case involved a contention that the train should have been operated so that it could have been stopped to avoid the collision. The syllabus is: “It is not negligence for a railway company to operate a passenger train at the rate of 45 or 50 miles an hour during a bright, still day, in the open country where there are *361no obscure crossings.” Again note that the other circumstances were considered.
The court’s opinion then cites the case of Lake Shore & M. S. Ry. Co. v. Barnes, 166 Ind. 7, 76 N. E. 629, 3 L. R. A. N. S. 778. The Indiana court did not state any broad general rule such as this court adopts. They said in the syllabus of the state report: “It is not negligence per se to run a train over an ordinary country highway crossing at the speed of fifty miles an hour.” However, the same court, citing this case, said: “* * * this court held that it was not negligence per se to run a train over an ordinary country highway crossing at any speed consistent with the safety of the persons and things being carried. It is generally held that, in the absence of statutory regulations, a railway company may use its discretion in establishing the speed of its trains. 33 Cyc. 971. This does not excuse it from the common-law duty of exercising care for the safety of persons traveling on highways crossing its tracks; and the rate of speed to he used in a given case depends on the nature of the crossing, and other, cimcumstances surrounding the alleged injury” The jury has the “right to determine whether defendant exercised reasonable care and prudence, under the particular circumstances of the case * * Brooks v. Muncie & Portland Traction Co., 176 Ind. 298, 95 N. E. 1006. The same court has said: “* * * thé rate of speed of a train, in connection with other circumstances, may be considered in determining the issue of negligence * * *.” Terre Haute & Indianapolis R. R. Co. v. Clark, 73 Ind. 168.
I refer now to some of our opinions dealing with the same subject matter which the court’s opinion ignores.
Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. Co. v. Clark, 26 Neb. 645, 42 N. W. 703, was decided in 1889. There the court instructed the jury that it was negligence to run a train at “full speed” over a track known to be frequented by cattle “unless that part of the track is properly guarded.” We held the requirement above quoted was error. The *362opinion turned on that question. We said: “There is no doubt but that it would have been competent to instruct the jury that while running over that part of the track a greater degree of care should be taken than while passing over the other portions of the road, perhaps; but we know of no rule which would require the track to be guarded. Any other kind of care which would have secured safety, would have been sufficient. Furthermore, the question of negligence was for the jury to decide under all the facts and circumstances proven” Earlier in the decision we held that evidence as to the had condition of the track was competent for the purpose of showing negligence as to the dangerous rate of speed of the train.
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Sporer, 69 Neb. 8, 94 N. W. 991, was an accident case “in the country” on the carrier that is defendant here and about a mile from where this accident happened. The running of a train at a high rate of speed was alleged and proved. There-the trial court instructed the jury that: “* * * if you find from the evidence that at the time of the accident, defendants passenger train was running at a rapid rate of speed, then you may consider this fact, if it be a fact, in connection with all other facts proved upon the trial in determining whether or not defendant Railroad Company was negligent.” The carrier in its brief stated: “The speed at which the train was being run should have been considered by the jury in connection with all the other facts, but the court should not have selected it from the other facts and given it such great and undue prominence.” Subsequently in a reply brief the carrier (this carrier) stated: “The place of the accident was an ordinary country crossing and the rate of speed of a train passing a country crossing is not per se negligence.” It cited for that rule the Grablin, Talbot, Hansen, Krayenbuhl, and Wendt cases. Defendant contended it was entitled to a directed verdict. We said in the opinion: “Railway crossings are always places of danger. * * * *363Under these conditions it can not be said that the speed at which the train was running might not of itself render it impossible for one crossing the track at this point to avoid such an accident. The whole question as to whether under all the circumstances the speed of the train was such as to constitute negligence on the part of the defendant should have been submitted to the jury under proper instructions. The court therefore did not err in refusing to direct a verdict for the defendant.”
The syllabus is: “In this case it was for the jury to determine the rate of speed at which defendant’s train was running at the time of the accident, and whether, under the conditions obtaining at the crossing, the company was negligent in running its train at such rate of speed.”
In Kafka v. Union Stock Yards Co., 87 Neb. 331, 127 N. W. 129, an “in city” case, we said: “ ‘The first question is as to the negligence of defendant; Two witnesses for defendant swore the engine was going 6 miles an hour, a witness for plaintiff said 12 miles, and another witness swore that one of defendant’s witnesses had stated on one occasion that the rate of speed was 12 miles an hour. In this state of the record there is sufficient evidence to warrant a finding either way, and in support of the verdict we must assume the jury found the higher rate. It was for the jury to say whether or not, under all the circumstances, such rate was negligence.’ ”
Craig v. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. R. R. Co., 97 Neb. 426, 150 N. W. 374, was decided in 1914. It has not been changed, modified, or overruled.
■ This was an “in city” case.
Defendant carrier contended that speed alone is not evidence of negligence. In its brief it asserted that “it is the settled rule in this state, and in other jurisdictions, that the rate of speed alone cannot be said to be evidence of negligence in the event of an accident at a crossing.” To sustain that rule they cited the Wendt *364case, the Grablin case, the Hansen case, the Krayenbuhl case, and the Brown case. We answered that contention in this language: “It is insisted that a fast rate of speed cannot of itself be negligence, citing cases, and quoting the opinion of Judge Lake in Burlington & M. R. R. Co. v. Wendt, 12 Neb. 76, to the effect that ‘speed alone, unconnected with any other fact or circumstance, and more especially where it is not shown to have been unusual, has never, that we are aware of, been held sufficient to show gross negligence.’ This opinion, however, also states that a rate of speed entirely reasonable at some places and under some circumstances might evince a reckless disregard for the rights of persons and property at another. The latter principle is also stated by Judge Lake in his opinion in Meyer v. Midland P. R. Co., 2 Neb. 319, 335. The Nebraska cases cited in support of the theory that the rate of speed is no evidence of negligence show that in each case the facts were that the trains were running in the open country outside of the limits of any city or village, and the language used applies to such conditions. * * * The true principle is that a railroad company must use such care and precaution as ordinary prudence indicates. They must exercise greater care and greater vigilance in cities or towns where crossings are frequently used by large numbers of people than at ordinary crossings in the open country. The degree of care which the law requires to be exer<cised must be commensurate with the probability of danger. In some instances in cities and villages, ordinary care and prudence demand that gates be erected or flagmen stationed or electric bells or signals installed, while in other cases all that would be necessary would be to lessen the speed of the train, or give continuous signals of its approach, or both. Grand Truck R. Co. v. Ives, 144 U. S. 408.” We there held that a finding that the rate of speed considered in connection with all the other circumstances was a negligent one, was upheld by the evidence, and that the practice of running *365the train at the speed shown “over this dangerous crossing” did “not justify the lack of ordinary care.”
The case of Meyer v. Midland P. R. R. Co., 2 Neb. 319, cited in the Craig case, was an “in city” case. There we said: “It is doubtless true, even in the absence of a statutory regulation upon the rate of speed upon railroads within the thickly-settled portion of cities and villages, that a reasonable rate must be observed, which is to be determined from a due consideration of all the circumstances. A proper regard for the safety of the inhabitants and their property imperatively requires that this should be so. It is but an application of the same wholesome rule to railroad companies in running their trains that would govern an individual in driving a team of horses along a public thoroughfare. Here it is quite clear that a rate of speed that would be entirely justifiable in the open and sparsely-settled country, might, in the crowded streets of a city, be considered as criminal carelessness.”
Craig v. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. Ry. Co., 97 Neb. 586, 150 N. W. 648, was a companion case arising out of the same accident as that just discussed. There the defendant carrier made the same contention, citing the same cases as it did in the previous case. We there held: “It will be unnecessary, therefore, to consider the claim of defendant that the evidence does not support a finding that it was guilty of negligence, that point having been decided adversely to its contention in the former case.”
C. J. S. states the rule as follows: “In the absence of any statute or ordinance on the subject, no particular rate of speed in running a train is negligence per se, although the rate of speed may be considered in connection with other circumstances in determining the issue of negligence.” 74 C. J. S., Railroads, § 691, p. 1287.
“In actions for injuries to person or property at railroad crossings, ordinarily it is a question for the jury to determine at what rate of speed the train was run- • ning at the time of the accident, as, for example, whether *366the train causing the injury was running at a rate of speed in excess of that fixed by statute or ordinance. In addition, it is a question for the jury to determine whether or not, under all the circumstances existing at the time and place where the injury occurred, the rate of speed was negligent. This is so although the rate of speed was not fixed by statute or ordinance, * * *.” 75 C. J. S., Railroads, § 870, p. 202.
Am. Jur. states the rule as follows: “The general rule is that in the absence of a prohibitory statute or ordinance a railroad company may run its trains at such speed as it sees fit, and that a charge of negligence cannot be predicated on the rate of speed at which a train is run unless there are attendant circumstances which make such speed negligence. A rate of speed that would be entirely safe under some conditions may, however, be recklessly dangerous under other conditions.” 44 Am. Jur., Railroads, § 456, p. 684.
I submit that the proposed rule is not correct. I submit further that the defendant does not contend for such a .rule but says that the speed of its train was not the proximate cause of the accident. Its opening sentence in the argument is: “There are of course cases where the speed of a train might be a proximate cause of a crossing collision. This is not such a case.”