Langston v. Chicago & N.W. Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 17 November 1947
• Docket Number: No. 30091.,30091.
• Citation: 398 Ill. 248,75 N.E.2d 363
• Parties: LANGSTON et al. v. CHICAGO & N. W. RY. CO.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

398 Ill. 248

75 N.E.2d 363

LANGSTON et al.

v.CHICAGO & N. W. RY. CO.

No. 30091.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 18, 1947.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 17, 1947.

Appeal from Appellate Court, Second District, on Appeal from Circuit Court, Lake County; Ralph J. Dady, Judge.

Action by Charles E. Langston, by Bryan Langston, his father and next friend and others, and Alice E. Spoo, as administratrix of the estate of Charles L. Spoo, deceased, against the Chicago & North Western Railway Company, a reorganized Wisconsin corporation, to recover for personal injuries and for death of the deceased, when an automobile driven by deceased ran into the side of defendant's freight train. From a judgment of the Appellate Court, 330 Ill.App. 260, 70 N.E.2d 852, for plaintiffs, reversing judgment in favor of defendant notwithstanding verdict for plaintiffs, defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

Nye F. Morehouse, Lowell Hastings and James B. O'Shaughnessy, all of Chicago, (John L. Davidson, Jr., of counsel), for appellant.

Snyder & Clarke, of Waukegan (Gerald C. Snyder, of Waukegan, of counsel), for appellees.

GUNN, Justice.

On February 3, 1944, about 2:30 a. m., an automobile driven by Charles L. Spoo, deceased, in which appellees, Charles E. Langston, Ruth Bargar and Rosalie Radicella, and three other persons were riding, ran into the side of a freight train of the Chicago and North Western Railway Company, appellant, which was proceeding south across Belvidere road. Spoo was killed, and the appellees above named injured.

The amended and supplemental complaint consisted of four general negligence counts, the first three of which alleged personal injuries to three of the above-named plaintiffs, and the fourth count was based upon the wrongful death of Charles L. Spoo. Each count alleged due care upon the part of the plaintiff to whom it pertained, and each count, among other charges of negligent operation of the train and of negligent maintenance of the crossing, included a charge that the defendant carelessly and improperly failed to maintain the proper lights upon the railroad crossing.

At the close of the plaintiffs' evidence, defendant's motion for the directing of a verdict was denied, and at the close of all of the testimony a ruling upon a like motion was reserved. The jury returned verdicts of $12,500 for Charles E. Langston, $10,000 for the administratrix of the estate of Charles L. Spoo; $7,500 for Ruth Bargar, and $500 for Rosalie Radicella. A motion was made by plaintiffs for judgments upon the verdicts, and a motion by the defendant for a judgment in its favor notwithstanding the verdicts. The court entered an order denying the motions of the plaintiffs, and allowing the motion of the defendant, and rendered a judgment in favor of the defendant, notwithstanding the verdicts. The cause was appealed to the Appellate Court for the Second District by plaintiffs, and the judgments of the circuit court of Lake county were reversed, and judgment entered for the respective plaintiffs upon the verdicts returned by the jury, 330 Ill.App. 260, 70 N.E.2d 852. There being no motion for a new trial under Rule 22, a motion for such purpose was waived. We have allowed an appeal to this court.

The accident happened at the crossing of Belvidere road across the tracks of the defendant, about one mile west of Waukegan. At that point appellant's railroad runs north and south. It is paralleled by U. S. Route 41, a four-lane highway separated in the center by a parking space 20 feet or more wide, lying about 75 feet west of the tracks, and known as the Skokie highway. Both highways are heavily traveled, and both the Skokie highway and the railroad are crossed by the Belvidere road at practically right angles. When approaching the railroad from the west on Belvidere road there is a clear view of over half a mile in each direction from a point 50 feet west of the tracks. There is also a reflector sign on the south side of Belvidere road 450 feet west of the crossing. There is a set of warning signals maintained on each side of and about 15 feet from the railroad tracks, and both sets of signals operate, during a stop, at the same time. Each set consists of two signals, one of which is a post with four red warning lights vertically spaced, which when in operation spell the word ‘stop.’ The other signal is a wigwag with a red light in the center and a bell. When the signal is in operation the wigwag swings, the red lights come on and the bell rings. The signals are operated by a battery, and their operation is controlled by trippers on the railroad tracks. If the signals are in working order they operate on both sides of the track, giving warning to travelers coming both west and east. At the corners of the intersection of Belvidere road and Skokie highway there are stop-and-go signals with red and green lights. These lights are synchronized with the railroad-crossing signals, and were in working order when the Spoo car approached from the west, and when the collision occurred. When the stop-and-go signal at the southwest corner of the intersection of Belvidere and Skokie shows a green light for traffic from the west, the railroad signals, if in working order, will not be operating, and this indicates there is no train approaching or on the crossing. If there is a train approaching or on the crossing and the railroad signals are operating, the highway signal shows red.

On the evening in question Spoo was employed by the appellees and three other young men, to be transported from a night club to Waukegan. The evidence is clear that they had not been drinking, but had been dancing and eating sandwiches. The party left in the Spoo car, traveled about 20 miles an hour, with the headlights on. The night was foggy; lights could be seen for about 50 feet, and unlighted objects about 10 feet. When the automobile reached the intersection, the green light was showing and none of the railroad warning signs were operating, which indicated there was no train approaching or on the crossing. Spoo was familiar with this crossing, and with the method in which the lights were operated at that place. The evidence shows the railroad crossing lights were not in operation. As the car crossed Skokie highway with the green light it came within about 10 feet of the south bound tracks, when the movement of the train was first observed. Spoo was unable to stop the car and ran into the side of the train, with the results above indicated.

The appellant asserts that the case presents the simple question,-Does a railroad under the law of Illinois owe a duty to a traveler on a highway to warn of the presence of a train passing over a grade crossing? On the other hand, the appellees assert that the true question involved is: (a) whether the failure of the defendant's signals was an invitation to cross the tracks with an implied assurance that it could be done with safety; and (b) whether the defendant was negligent in failing to properly maintain the signals at the time of the accident.

Certain questions of fact mentioned, but not argued at length, are settled by the decision of the Appellate Court. As to the questions whether the proximate cause of the accident was the failure of the crossing signals to work, and whether the driver and other occupants of the car were in the exercise of due care, or were guilty of negligence which was the proximate cause of the accident, these were questions of fact which are settled by the decision of the Appellate Court, and which cannot be considered here....