Cleveland, C., C. & St. L. Ry. Co. v. Morton

Citations

• 120 F. 936
• 57 C.C.A. 226
• 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 4693

Syllabus

<p>1. Railroads — Injuries at Crossing — Contributory Negligence — Instructions.</p> <p>Plaintiff, on arriving at a railroad crossing, observed a passenger train standing on the third track from him, ready to move. He crossed the first track, and, on reaching the second, stepped back to avoid the steam from the passenger engine; and while in that position, slightly over the first track, he was struck by a switch engine running thereon. The court charged that if the switch engine was driven across the crossing without the bell being rung or the whistle blown, from the place where it started, if that was within 80 rods of the crossing, and if the fireman who was running the engine did not exercise reasonable care in looking ahead, which caused the injury, plaintiff was entitled to recover, though he did not use such care for his own safety as might have been expected of a boy of his age, provided the injury could have been avoided, notwithstanding plaintiff’s negligence, if the fireman had exercised reasonable care in looking ahead. Held, that such instruction was erroneous, as entirely excluding plaintiff’s contributory negligence in case defendant was guilty of the negligence named.</p>