Bagdad Land & Lumber Co. v. Moneyway

Citations

• 80 Fla. 784
• 86 So. 687

Syllabus

<p>1. “When the driver of an automobile attempts to cross a railroad track at a road crossing and has ample time to do so, but his engine chokes down and the automobile stops upon the railroad track, and it is not alleged in the declaration that the choking down of the engine was caused by the defective condition of the railroad crossing, the proximate cause of the accident is the stopping of the automobile, and the railroad is not guilty of negligence in not assuming that it would break down and stop on its track, provided that when the railroad employes saw that it had stopped on the track they at once did everything in their power to stop the train.”</p> <p>2. Persons operating a railroad train are not called upon to presume that the engine of an automobile, about to cross a railroad track sufficiently far ahead of the train to enable it to cross in safety, will choke down and cause the automobile to stop on its tracks.</p> <p>3. The obligation of a railroad company to a person crossing its tracks in an automobile that has ample time to cross ahead' of an approaching train does not begin until the instant its employes see that the automobile has stopped on its tracks, and if from that moment, they do all in their power to avoid a collision with the automobile, but are unable to do so, they are not chargeable with actionable negligence.</p>