Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railway Co. v. Hall

Citations

• 106 Ill. 371
• 1883 Ill. LEXIS 177

Syllabus

<p>1. Negligence—speed of railway trains—as affecting liability for negligence. A railway company may run its trains at any rate of'speed it chooses, so that, when taken in connection with the character of the road, its grades, curves, etc., and the various other questions affecting the question'of safety, it appears it does not increase the ordinary risks and dangers incident to travel by rail. So long as the increased speed of trains adds nothing to the dangers and risks of the traveling public, the courts have no right to interpose. Subject to this limitation, railway companies have the right to fix the rate of speed of their trains as they think best.</p> <p>2. Such companies may run their trains at such speed as, under all the circumstances, shall comport with the rule of law which requires them to exercise a high degree of care for the safety of passengers, and whether a given rate of speed is dangerous or not is to be determined by the surrounding circumstances, such as, condition of the track, fencing of right of way, etc.</p> <p>3. Instruction—construed, as to whether the running of a train of cars at a certain speed is negligence. In an action on the case for a personal injury, against a railway company, on the alleged ground of negligence in running and operating its train, and in running the train at a high and dangerous rate of speed, the court, on behalf of the plaintiff, instructed the jury that “if such train was being run by the employés of the defendant at a high and dangerous rate of speed, such speed being so high and dangerous as to become a negligent management of the train, and that such accident resulted in consequence thereof, the jury will find the issues for the plaintiff. ” The proof showed that the train, at the time of the accident, was running at the rate of fifty miles an hour, and upon a straight line, on which an animal on the track might have been seen in ample time to have checked the speed of the train: Held, that the instruction