Welfare v. Seaboard Coast Line R. Co.

• Decision Date: 10 May 1979
• Docket Number: No. 52847,52847
• Citation: 373 So.2d 886
• Parties: Betty Raye WELFARE et al., Petitioners, v. SEABOARD COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, etc., Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 886

373 So.2d 886

Betty Raye WELFARE et al., Petitioners, v. SEABOARD COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, etc., Respondent.

No. 52847.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 10, 1979.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 30, 1979.

Robert Orseck, Walter H. Beckham, Jr., and Joel D. Eaton of Podhurst, Orseck & Parks, Miami, and Chandler, O'Neal, Gray, Lang & Haswell, Gainesville, for petitioners.

William R. Swain of Webb, Swain & Watson, Jacksonville, for respondent.

R. J. Beckham of Beckham, McAliley & Proenza, Jacksonville, for Jacksonville Trial Lawyers Association, amicus curiae.

DuBose Ausley and William M. Smith, of Ausley, McMullen, McGehee, Carothers & Proctor, Tallahassee, for Florida Railroad Association, amicus curiae.

Bill Wagner of Wagner, Cunningham, Vaughan, Hapner & Genders, Tampa, for Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, amicus curiae.

PER CURIAM.

This is another of the perplexing cases regarding the proximate cause of a railroad crossing accident. We exercise our jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution, and quash the district court opinion. ^*

The facts as set forth by the district court in Seaboard Coast Line Railroad v. Welfare, 350 So.2d 476, 477 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), are as follows:

The following facts are undisputed. The collision occurred at approximately 12:00 noon on May 25, 1972, during clear, dry weather at the crossing of Walker Street and appellant's main line tracks within the city limits of Live Oak, Florida. Betty and two of her teen-age girl friends, Cathy Parker and Gwynth Frier, left school in an automobile driven by Betty to go to lunch. They drove north on South Walker Street to its intersection with U.S. Highway 90 where they stopped at a stop sign. From that intersection which was approximately 150 feet due south of the railroad crossing where the accident occurred Betty drove the car northward on Walker Street toward the crossing at 25 m.p.h. All windows of the car were up and the air conditioning and radio were both on inside the car. The radio was on normal volume. As the car approached the crossing, the line of sight was partially obstructed by a U.S. Mail Truck which was parked about 50 feet south of the crossing in the northbound lane on the east side of Walker Street. Betty drove the automobile up to and around the mail truck and moving at a steady pace without looking to the right or the left, she drove onto Seaboard's main line tracks in front of appellant's oncoming freight train. She was not driving in a reckless manner otherwise. She and Gwynth Frier were seriously injured and Cathy Parker was killed in the resulting collision. Betty knew the crossing was there and had been over it hundreds of times before. The driver of another car, Katherine Fielding, had already stopped for appellant's train in the southbound lane of Walker Street on the opposite side of the crossing, and she blew her horn frantically in an attempt to get the attention of Betty but she did not respond.

Appellant's train consisting of five diesel engines and 138 cars was making a scheduled freight run from Bainbridge, Georgia, to Jacksonville, Florida, when the collision occurred. When the lead engine reached the whistle post for the Walker Street crossing, approximately 1500 feet west of the crossing, the engineer blew the whistle and blew it again at the crossing where the accident occurred. The crossing was equipped with a standard crossbuck warning sign for automobiles. The speed limit for a train at this crossing was 25 m.p.h. The train had a broken speedometer and was traveling at a speed of approximately 50 m.p.h.

Resolution of the issues in this case depends upon our review of three rulings made by the trial judge which were reversed by the district court. The issues are: (1) whether the trial judge erred in finding that evidence of excessive speed of the train presented a jury question on the issue of proximate cause; (2) whether the trial judge erred in admitting the negative testimony of witnesses on the issue of the adequacy of the train's warning signals; and (3) whether the trial judge erred in admitting expert testimony relating to the adequacy of the train's warning signals.

We find no error in the trial judge's ruling that evidence of excessive speed of the train presented a jury question on the issue of proximate cause. As to the negative testimony of witnesses on the adequacy of warning devices, we reiterate our holding in Tyus v. Apalachicola Northern Railroad, 130 So.2d 580 (Fla.1961), that:

The gist of our rule in relation to negative testimony in the face of positive testimony to the contrary is that if a jury decides that the attention of the witness whose testimony is negative in character, is Actually directed to the fact or situation, about which he later testifies, regardless of the reason therefor, said jury may consider such negative testimony and accord to it the weight it may deem proper.

Id. at 585 (emphasis in original).

As to whether evidence of excessive speed presented a jury question on proximate cause, we cite as controlling our recent case of Helman v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, 349 So.2d 1187 (Fla.1977), and our directions to the appellate courts of this state stated therein:

We initiate this analysis by articulating three incontrovertible premises of law which are relevant to our disposition of this case. First, it is not the function of an appellate court to reevaluate the evidence and substitute its judgment for that of the jury. . . . Second, if there is any competent evidence to support a verdict, that verdict must be sustained regardless of the District Court's...