Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. v. Goebel

Citations

• 119 Ill. 515
• 10 N.E. 369
• 1887 Ill. LEXIS 1087

Syllabus

<p>1. Negligence—contributory and comparative—collision with freight, car while being unloaded on side-track—injury to person engaged in unloading the freight car. Where a recovery is sought against a railway company for the killing of a person while engaged in unloading coal from a freight car left on a side-track for the purpose of being unloaded, by violently running other cars against the same without previous warning, on the ground the company had so acted as to justify the deceased in assuming there was no danger in being upon the freight car, and to throw him off his guard and excuse his want of care, there is no error in refusing an instruction which virtually would take this feature of the case from the jury.</p> <p>2. In such case it would be error for the court, at the instance of the defendant, to instruct the jury, as a matter of law, that if they believed, from the evidence, that the employes of the defendant, shortly before the accident, saw the deceased upon the car at the place where the injury occurred, yet, as a matter of law, they had a right to presume that he was a reasonable being, and would not place himself or remain in a position of danger, until they saw something in his conduct to the contrary.</p> <p>3. The rule that where those in charge of a train of cars see a person crossing the track, or approaching other places of known danger, they may rightfully presume he will look out for danger and avoid it, and /therefore not attempt to stop the train, has no application where the person injured has reasonable ground to suppose there is no danger in the position in which he is rightfully engaged, in unloading a car upon a side-track, such confidence in his safety being induced by the previous conduct of the company, and whereby he is thrown off his guard and lulled into a sense of security, and is injured by the sudden striking of the car he is unloading.</p> <p>4. lío one has the right, by his course of dealing, or otherwise, to invite confi