Court Opinion

ID: 9442391
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 18:46:01.065704+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:05.174466
License: Public Domain

HUXMAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
' This case is unique in the annals of railroad crossing cases in Kansas as recorded in the decisions of the Supreme Court. It is unique in that there were no eye witnesses and no évidence either direct or circumstantial as to the manner in which the truck was being operated at the time of the collision. There were no survivors who saw, or who could testify as to the manner in which the truck was being operated immediately prior to and at the time of the collision. There are no physical facts or circumstances having probative value tending to show the manner in which the truck was operated. All the evidence we have is that the terrain was level; that the train was running approximately 65 -miles per -hour; that the head light was burning and could be seen a great distance down the track; and that a crossing accident occurred. It is from these facts and from these facts alone that we must find negligence on the part o-f the driver of the truck to enable the railroad company to recover.
The Kansas Supreme Court has consistently held when the question is the negligence of a deceased person in failing to exercise due care in crossing a railroad crossing that there exists ¿ presumption that the deceased exercised due care, which makes a prima facie case of due care, which must be overcome by evidence on the part of one charging negligence or lack of due care o-n the part of the deceased. This rule was first announced by the Supreme Court in the early case of Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company v. Hinds, 56 Kan. 758, 44 P. 993, 994. That was a railroad crossing accident case in which a person lost his life. The trial court instructed the jury as follows: “I further instruct you that the burden of proof rests upon the defendant to prove that the deceased did not observe such precautions as were necessary in the exercise of ordinary care under the circumstances which surrounded him as he was approaching the crossing in controversy, and that the collision which resulted in his death was.caused by his failure to exercise such ordinary care; * *
The. Supreme Court approved this instruction, and stated: “It can never be presumed, in the absence of evidence, that a person fails to do that which people ordinarily do to avoid, injury.”
The doctrine was reaffirmed in the case of Kansas City-Leavenworth R. Co. v. Gallagher, 68 Kan. 424, 75 P. 469, 470, 64 L.R.A. 344, where the court again said: “And in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it will be presumed that a person about to cross a railroad track both looked and listened before venturing to do so.”
To the sáme effect, see also Sams v. Commercial Standard Ins. Co., 157 Kan. 278, 139 P.2d 859, and Smith v. Bassett, 159 Kan. 128, 152 P.2d 794, 798. In this latter case, after giving its adherence to this doctrine, the Kansas Supreme Court said that: “In view of this presumption and the lack of evidence to clearly overcome it as a matter of law we think the motion for a directed verdict was properly overruled.”
In case number 3965, the Rock Island was the plaintiff. It charged Consumers Cooperative Association with negligence in driving its truck across a railroad crossing. In effect, it charged the driver with negligence in the operation of the truck in crossing the tracks. At the outset, the *907Railroad Company was faced with the necessity of overcoming by evidence a prima facie case of due care on the part of the driver in operating the transport truck. The only question on this appeal is whether the Rock Island introduced probative evidence, direct or circumstantial, of sufficient weight, which, if believed by the jury, would overthrow the prima facie case of the exercise of due care by the driver of the truck.
As it was pointed out, it is conceded that the ground was level; that the train approaching the crossing with the headlight burning, which could be seen at a great distance; and that the train was traveling at a speed of approximately 65 miles per hour.
My associates are of the view that this constitutes sufficient evidence to take the question of due care on the driver’s part to the jury. With this, I cannot agree. The legal presumption that the deceased driver exercised due care implies that he looked, saw the approaching train, and had sufficient time to cross otherwise there could be no presumption that he exercised due care in attempting to cross the tracks. To me it seems simple logic that the existence of facts which gives rise to a presumption that the deceased exercised due care in attempting to cross the tracks, standing alone, unsupported by other evidence, is insufficient to overcome the prima facie case arising from the presumption.
A review of the numerous cases cited by the appellant in Number 3965 clearly distinguishes them on the facts. None of them rested upon the presumption of the exercise of due care, and in none of them is this principle applied or discussed. Only a small number thereof were death cases and in all of them there was direct and positive evidence making a -clear case of negligence on the part of the driver of the vehicle, or raising a substantial jury question. It would serve no useful purpose and would only unduly extend this opinion to analyze all these cases in detail. A few illustrations will suffice.
Thus, in Richards v. C. R. I. & P. Ry. Co., 157 Kan. 378, 139 P.2d 427, 429, the driver of the car testified. Among other testimony, he testified that: “I tried to beat it on across.” And that had he looked to the south as he crossed the second track he could have seen the train in time to stop. There was other testimony by plaintiff’s witnesses showing negligence.
In McCune v. Thompson, 147 Kan. 57, 75 P.2d 294, 295, there likewise was direct evidence showing negligence. It was in the light of this evidence that the Supreme Court said that: “If he attempts to cross without first making sure that he can safely do so, he is guilty of negligence.”
But, in our case, the legal presumption is that he made sure that he could safely cross the tracks and there is no evidence that he negligently attempted to cross the tracks, nor is there any evidence which overcomes the effect of this legal presumption.
The Railroad Company’s burden is quite different in those cases in which it is a defendant charged with negligence than in those cases in which it is a plaintiff charging negligence on the part of the defendant. Had the Railroad Company been sued by the personal representative of the deceased driver, under the undisputed facts of this case it see-ms to me that the court would have been required to instruct a verdict for the Railroad Company. The evidence clearly and unequivocally establishes, as a matter of law, that it was not negligent and that there is no -disputed issue of fact for the jury to decide with respect to the Railroad Company’s negligence. But can it be said that the evidence goes further and discharges the burden resting upon the Railroad Company, as plaintiff, by affirmatively showing not only that it was not negligent but also showing that there was negligence on the part of the driver. Tc, me, the answer must be “no.” The only argument that can be made to show negligence on the driver’s part, from the admitted undisputed facts, is that since the train was clearly visible for a great distance, the accident would not have happened had the driver not been negligent. But that is a conclusion based upon mere speculation. It disregards the presumption of law that the driver did act prudently *908and carefully, and is an inference not to be drawn from the evidence produced by the Railroad Company. Or let us suppose further that the case was submitted to the jury and it returns' a verdict for the defendant. ' Upon what theory could such a verdict be 'based. The only possible theory could be that the truck stalled or broke down on the tracks without fault on the part of the driver. But again, such a conclusion is not a reasonable inference deductible from the evidence. It is based upon speculation and conjecture as to what occurred. \
■ This case is much like the case of Hart v. St. Louis & San Francisco Ry. Co., 80 Kan. 699, 102 P. 1-101. In that case there was no direct eyidence as to how the injury occurred. -There a passenger disappeared from' a moving• train; . The.door of the vestibule was found open. There was no evidence as, to who-left the door open. Plaintiff argued that the Railroad Company was negligent in leaving the door open, while-the Railroad took the opposition that the passenger opened the door. The Supreme -Court held. that there were no facts to submit to the jury and that the jury would arrive at its conclusions only by speculation.. The Supreme -Court, in its opinion, said that to attempt to determine how the accident happened or what caused it could be arrived at only by mere conjecture, and only serves to show the extent to which speculation may run, where there are no facts by which it is guided or limited.
I think what the court said applies with equal force here. We are left to mere speculation and conjecture. We start with the presumption that the driver exercised due care in attempting to cross the tracks. It may be that he failed to do this but the Railroad Company did not, in my view, bear the heavy responsibility which rests upon it, as recognized by the majority, of meeting this burden by convincing evidence or evidence raising a disputed issue of fact. The undisputed facts lend themselves as readily to the conclusion that the accident Would not have happened in view of the presumption, if the truck had not stalled upon the tracks, as they do the conclusion that it would not have happened if he in fact did look and say what was approaching. The jury could only speculate as to what occurred in the absence of any corroborating circumstances or fact tending to affirmatively establish negligence on the part of the driver.
I would affirm in both cases.