Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Bodemer

Citations

• 139 Ill. 596
• 29 N.E. 692
• 1892 Ill. LEXIS 1191

Syllabus

<p>1. Negligence—facts tending to show—unusual speed of train. Where' a railway train which killed a person on its track was traveling at the-unusual speed of thirty-five or forty miles an hour, in a crowded city,, over street crossings, upon unguarded tracks so connected with a public street, and so apparently the continuation of a public street, as to be regarded by many as located in a public street, along a portion of such track where persons were known to be passing and crossing every day, in violation of a city ordinance as to speed, and without warning of the approach of the train by the ringing of a bell, and the track was straight and unobstructed, such conduct tends, at the least, to show such a gross want of care and regard for the rights of others as to justify the presumption of willfulness, and also to show that if there was a failure to discover the danger of the deceased, such failure was owing to recklessness of the company’s servants in the management of its train.</p> <p>2. If an engineer of a railway company, knowing that persons are accustomed to cross the track between the streets of a large and crowded city, drives his engine forward recklessly, or with indifference as to whether such persons are injured or not, and at a rate of speed greatly in excess of that limited by a city ordinance, an injury thereby inflicted upon one of such persons, even though he be a trespasser, will be regarded as the result of “such gross want of care and regard for the rights of others as to justify the presumption of willfulness or wantonness.”</p> <p>3. Same — contributory—willful and wanton. Contributoryvnegligence on the part of the plaintiff is no excuse for wanton and willful negligence on the part of the defendant. When wanton and willful negligence is charged and proved, it makes no difference to what extent the person killed or injured was guilty of a want of care.</p> <p>4. Same — contributory—when no defense. Although the injured party may be guilty of