Baltimore & Ohio Railroad v. County Commissioners

Citations

• 113 Md. 404

Syllabus

<p>Liability for Wrongful Act Imposing Liability upon Another— Contribution Between Wrongdoers—Municipality Made Liable for Unsafe Highway Entitled to Indemnity from Party Creating the Nuisance—Evidence.</p> <p>Whenever the wrongful act of one person causes a liability towards third parties to be imposed upon another person, who discharges that liability, the latter is entitled to indemnity or contribution from the person guilty of the actual wrong, provided he did not participate in doing it.</p> <p>Thus, where the wrongful act of a party renders a highway unsafe for travel, and a person injured thereby recovers a judgment against the municipality, whose duty it was to keep the highway safe, the municipality is entitled to indemnity from the wrongdoer. And in such case, the fact that the municipality was negligent in failing to repair the road after it had been made unsafe does not render it a joint wrongdoer so as to prevent contribution; and it makes no difference that the injury to the traveller was not caused solely by the negligence of the first wrongdoer.</p> <p>In changing the location of its tracks over a stream at the same point where there was a county road crossing it, the defendant railroad company changed the grade and location of the highway and made it dangerous by filling it in so as to leave the wing wall of the bridge insufficiently guarded. The highway had previously been safe for travel. The approach to the bridge remained in that dangerous condition for three years, when a traveller at night drove over the unprotected wall of the bridge and was killed. His widow brought an action against the County Commissioners and recovered damages for the death so occasioned, because the Commissioners had neglected their statutory duty to keep the highway in a safe condition for travel. The judgment was paid hy the County Commissioners, who then brought this action to recover indemnity against the railroad company, on the ground that the highway had been mad