Court Opinion

ID: 9594344
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:29:17.181926+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:03.692432
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, J.,
dissenting.
The majority goes to great lengths to detail the negligence of the railroad with regard to the type of warning signal it used on the night of the accident. The majority seems to suggest that as proof of defendant’s negligence increases the possibility of plaintiff’s contributory negligence decreases. Such an approach has never been accepted in the Commonwealth. In our State, even though there is proof positive of defendant’s negligence if plaintiff is shown to be contributorily negligent and that negligence is a proximate cause of the accident, then plaintiff cannot prevail regardless of the relative degrees of culpability between plaintiff and defendant.
In my view, the majority has focused its analysis in the wrong place. Even if we concede that there was overwhelming proof of the railroad’s negligence, the question still remains whether the decedent, in driving into the side of a train, fell below the standard of care owed by a reasonably prudent driver under the circumstances. To answer that question, we should set to one side the facts and circumstances which establish the railroad’s negligence and concentrate upon the facts and circumstances under which decedent operated.
The pertinent facts are as follows: decedent crossed the tracks at least twice per day and was thoroughly familiar with the cross*148ing. He knew, or should have known, that the crossing signals were out of order when he went to work on the day of the accident because they were tied up at the time. As he approached the train tracks on his way home, he saw, or should have seen, three cars completely stopped in the right hand lane of the highway on which he was traveling. He was bound to know the cars were stopped just in front of the crossing because he was familiar with its location. The train was blocking the highway and blocking decedent’s usual view down the road. A railroad employee was signaling with a lantern to warn decedent to stop.
Under the foregoing facts and circumstances, decedent should not have driven headlong into the side of the train. First, he knew where the tracks were and tracks by themselves warn of danger. Gardner v. Old Dominion Stev. Corp., 225 Va. 599, 604, 303 S.E.2d 914, 917 (1983). Thus, even if he had been on the road alone he should have exercised caution in crossing the tracks. Yet, in this case he had a further warning. Three cars were stopped in the highway directly in front of the tracks. The presence of those cars should have warned decedent of the need to slow down. A reasonably prudent driver would not expect to find three cars stopped in a highway, just shy of a rail crossing, unless something was happening or had happened to cause them to stop. Decedent did not slow down to investigate nor did he proceed with caution. He simply pulled into the passing lane and crashed into the side of the train.
In my view, decedent failed to see what was there to be seen. Even if the train itself were difficult to see the same cannot be said for the three cars. Even if decedent was accustomed to seeing flashing red lights and a cross-arm as an indicator of the presence of a train, he should have been on the alert for some other type signal since, on the way to work, he saw, or should have seen, that the customary signal devices were out of order.
In my opinion, a reasonably prudent driver in decedent’s position and under the attendant circumstances would have slowed down and thus avoided the collision. About this I do not believe reasonable men could differ. I would, therefore, reverse the judgment of the trial court and enter final judgment for the railroad.
CARRICO, C.J., joins in dissent.