C., R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Sullivan

• Decision Date: 25 January 1937
• Docket Number: No. 4-4500.,4-4500.
• Citation: 101 S.W.2d 175
• Parties: C., R. I. & P. RY. CO. v. SULLIVAN.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 175

101 S.W.2d 175

C., R. I. & P. RY. CO. v. SULLIVAN.

No. 4-4500.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

January 25, 1937.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Union County, Second Division; Gus W. Jones, Judge.

Action by Nancy Sullivan against the C., R. I. & P. Ry. Co., Frank O. Lowden and others, trustees. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.

Reversed, and cause dismissed.

A. S. Buzbee and Thos. S. Buzbee, both of Little Rock, for appellant.

W. A. Speer, of El Dorado, for appellee.

BUTLER, Justice.

This action was instituted by appellee to recover damages for alleged personal injuries received when an automobile in which she was riding ran into the side of a freight train, the property of the appellant railway company, the collision having occurred by reason of the alleged concurring negligence of the driver of the automobile and the appellants. The answer denied the material allegations of the complaint and alleged that the injuries were the result of appellee's own negligence.

The only witnesses testifying were the appellee, in her own behalf, and the operatives of the freight train. There was a verdict and judgment in favor of the appellee, from which is this appeal.

The appellee testified that on the night of the accident she was being transported from Longview, Tex., to El Dorado, Ark., in a car operated by a Mr. Mitchell. He was riding on the front seat with another man, and she was on the rear seat with a quantity of her household effects which she was taking to keep house with. She repeatedly cautioned the driver, who never at any time drove more than 15 or 20 miles an hour and was a careful driver; that they approached the crossing where the collision happened at about 9 or 9:30 at night, proceeding at about 15 miles an hour; that the first she knew they were going on the railroad was when they hit the train; that she did not know the train was there until the collision occurred. The automobile in which she was riding struck the first car back of the locomotive and "he never blew the whistle or rang the bell"; that after the collision the train stopped with the caboose just above the crossing; that the automobile did not turn over, but was turned sideways; that it had been raining that day but was not raining at the time. It was a paved road and it was dark at the time of the accident.

The undisputed proof is to the effect that the highway was paved and straight for a distance of five or six hundred feet from the railway crossing in the...