Hurst v. Union Pacific R. Co.

• Decision Date: 10 March 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-6091,91-6091
• Parties: Wanda G. HURST and William E. Hurst, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Roy Everett Hurst, a minor, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY and L.B. Cox, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1002

958 F.2d 1002

Wanda G. HURST and William E. Hurst, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Roy Everett Hurst a minor, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY and L.B. Cox, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 91-6091.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

March 10, 1992.

Terry W. West (Bradley C. West with him on the briefs) of Terry W. West, Inc. & Associate, Shawnee, Okl., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Tom L. Armstrong (Jeannie C. Henry and David S. Landers with him on the briefs), of Tom L. Armstrong & Associates, Tulsa, Okl., for defendants-appellees.

Before JOHN P. MOORE and EBEL, Circuit Judges, and OWEN, District Judge. ^*

JOHN P. MOORE, Circuit Judge.

This appeal unlooses a legal dinosaur, which, once out, tramples twentieth century negligence law and then lumbers back to its dark cave only to await another victim. The jurisprudential fossils it leaves behind are truly daunting as this case illustrates. However, absent any contra-indication from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the dinosaur prevails.

At issue in this diversity action is Oklahoma's "occupied crossing rule" which governs the relationship between individuals traveling upon public roads that cross railroad tracks and railroads whose moving or stationary trains occupy grade crossings. The Union Pacific Railroad Company raised this rule as a complete defense in a motion for summary judgment precluding plaintiffs' suit for wrongful death. Wanda and William Hurst, individually and as administrators of the estate of their son, Roy Everett Hurst, now appeal the grant of summary judgment in favor of Union Pacific, contending certain facts bring this case within the "unusual circumstances" exception to the rule and require a jury's resolution. However, under Oklahoma law as presently articulated, summary judgment was properly granted, and we affirm.

I.

Plaintiffs' complaint alleged, at approximately 3:05 a.m., their 17-year-old son Roy was driving north on South Rock Creek Road in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, in an extremely heavy fog when he collided with a train owned by Union Pacific and driven by Marlyn Coleman. The complaint stated because of the heavy fog, "the train was not visible three cars away." As further evidence of the density of the fog, the complaint stated that within seconds after Roy Hurst's fatal collision another automobile traveling south on South Rock Creek Road ran into the other side of the same train. The complaint alleged that neither the moving train nor the crossing was equipped with any warning devices except for the standard wooden crossbuck railroad marker positioned on either side of the railroad crossing. The complaint alleged two similar collisions occurred at this crossing; the area around it was heavily populated; a school was located only 1,250 feet away; and on a particular day, 640 vehicles used the crossing. Plaintiffs alleged Union Pacific's knowledge of other fatal accidents "coupled with the dangerous nature of the crossing, the foggy conditions, heavy traffic count, dense population, and proximity to school, combined to create unusual circumstances under Oklahoma law" requiring Union Pacific to construct additional safety devices and its employee to drop flares to warn oncoming vehicles of the presence of trains. Having failed to perform that duty, plaintiffs alleged Union Pacific and its employee were negligent and sought $10,000 in compensatory and $10,000 in punitive damages. ¹ Answering the complaint with the affirmative defense decedent's negligence was the proximate cause of the accident, the Union Pacific then moved for summary judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 on the grounds the occupied crossing rule barred plaintiffs' recovery, and the decedent failed to observe the Assured Clear Distance Ahead Rule under Oklahoma law. ²

Granting summary judgment, the district court held the facts were uncontroverted that Roy Hurst drove into the 47th car of a moving freight train which was traversing the South Rock Creek Road crossing while the locomotive was already about one-half mile down the track at the time of the accident. Applying the Oklahoma occupied crossing rule that the presence of a train on a crossing, whether moving or stationary, is sufficient notice to the public of its presence unless "unusual circumstances" warrant additional warnings, the court held no unusual circumstances required Union Pacific to provide any other notice or warning. The court further concluded "decedent's failure to operate his vehicle at a careful and prudent speed so that he was able to stop within the assured clear distance ahead was the cause of the accident." The only issue appealed to us is whether the district court correctly applied the occupied crossing rule.

II.

The occupied crossing rule states:

Ordinarily, the presence of a train or railway cars on a crossing, whether moving or stationary, is sufficient notice to a driver of a vehicle, on the highway of such obstruction and, in the absence of unusual circumstances, the operating railway company is not under any duty to provide any other notice or warning.

Davis v. Burlington Northern, Inc., 663 F.2d 1028, 1030 (10th Cir.1981) (quoting Kansas, O. & G. Ry. Co. v. Painter, 333 P.2d 547, 548 (Okla.1958)) (emphasis added). The rule is not unique to the common law of Oklahoma. See, e.g., Port Terminal R.R. Ass'n v. Richardson, 808 S.W.2d 501, 505 (Tex.App.1991); Missouri Pac. R.R. Co. v. Cooper, 563 S.W.2d 233, 235 (Tex.1978); Sargent v. Southern Pac. Transp. Co., 264 Or. 435, 504 P.2d 729, 732 (1972); Chaney v. Wabash R. Co., 422 S.W.2d 349, 352 (Mo.1967); Still v. Hampton & Branchville R.R., 258 S.C. 416, 189 S.E.2d 15, 20 (1972); Grisamore v. Atchison, T. & S.F. Ry. Co., 195 Kan. 16, 403 P.2d 93, 97 (1965); Illinois Central R.R. Co. v. Williams, 242 Miss. 586, 135 So.2d 831, 834 (1961); Hogg v. Bessemer & Lake Erie R.R. Co., 373 Pa. 632, 96 A.2d 879, 885 (1953).

What does appear to be unique, however, is the absence of any Oklahoma case presenting an "unusual circumstance" to remove the rule's otherwise absolute bar to railroad liability. For example, in Davis, 663 F.2d at 1030, the court stated "inclement weather such as mist, rain, and fog are not 'unusual circumstances' within the meaning of the rule, but are hazards common to those who travel upon the highways." In Cain v. St. Louis-San Francisco R.R. Co., 293 P.2d 355 (Okla.1955), the court found that overgrown vegetation obscuring the crossing and obstacles blocking the view of the crossing were not unusual circumstances. Neither the absence of a crossbuck warning sign, Fleming v. Loch, 200 Okl. 448, 195 P.2d 942 (1948), nor darkness is considered an unusual circumstance. Kansas, O. & G. Ry. Co. v. Painter, 333 P.2d at 547; Kurn v. Jones, 187 Okl. 94, 101 P.2d 242, 244 (1940). A driver's ignorance of the existence of a railroad crossing is also not an exception as then "the rule is thereby nullified or abrogated, since the railway company would never know when a stranger or one not familiar with the existence of the crossing would approach, so that the railway company would at all times and under all conditions be required to anticipate and guard against such a driver." Atchison, T. & S.F. Ry. Co. v. Templar, 204 Okl. 460, 230 P.2d 907, 910 (1951) (road which decedent had never traveled curved just before the crossing).

Appellee's Supplemental Appendix ³ offers additional cases to illustrate how absolute the defense becomes when raised. ⁴ In a Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, the rule was applied to bar recovery when an automobile traveling at night ran into a flatbed railroad car parked in a railroad crossing which (1) had not been used in two and one-half years or maintained in over five years; (2) was overgrown with weeds; (3) the crossbuck warning sign had fallen down; and (4) there were washed out areas and deteriorated crossing timbers on the track. None of these circumstances was found to be unusual nor were any conditions in combination unusual. The track was occupied, and the railroad was under no additional duty to warn of the train's presence. Plaintiff's parents were killed in the accident. Deaver v. Missouri Pac. R.R. Co., No. 90-C-269-C (N.D.Okla. Jan. 30, 1991).

In another order submitted by the Union Pacific, the district court barred plaintiff's lawsuit for injuries she received when she drove her pickup into the 27th car of a 59-car freight train at 2:00 a.m. on a "dark, clear, and dry" night. In that case, the track had been abandoned for a period of time but was put back in service six months earlier. At the time of the collision, high weeds and brush obscured the track, and the train's presence blocked plaintiff's view of the crossbuck sign. The court rejected plaintiff's argument that having taken the track out of use, the railroad had a duty to inform the public about its reuse. Harris v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R.R. Co., No. 83-2610-R (W.D.Okla. June 18, 1984). ⁵

Each of these cases illustrates not simply that no circumstance yet constitutes an unusual circumstance, but also that the presence in and of itself of a train at a crossing regardless of the conditions surrounding that presence is legal notice. In addition, because the presence of a train, whether moving or stationary, is the single distinguishing factor in the defense, the occupied crossing rule remains impervious to the emerging common law negligence analysis applied in "simultaneous" or "approaching train" cases. See Walker v. St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co., 646 P.2d 593 (Okla.1982). ⁶

Against this background, plaintiffs have failed to make a factual showing sufficient to withstand summary judgment. Here, in addition to the allegations in the amended complaint, plaintiffs submitted five "Official Police Traffic Collision Reports" documenting five collisions at the South Rock Creek crossing. ⁷ The report of Roy Hurst's accident notes the driver was...