Provost v. Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad

Citations

• 52 La. Ann. 1894

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.</p> <p>1. It is not sufficient for a person about to cross or walk along a railroad track, or into or upon a railroad bridge, or trestle to stop, look and listen at any time prior to doing so. The stopping, looking and listening must be done at such a time and place as to make it effective and sufficient to save the situation. When the law requires steps of diligence and caution it will not be satisfied by the substitution therefor of vain and useless acts. (Snider vs. Railroad, 48th Ann., 12.!</p> <p>2. A person selecting for his own convenience a dangerous route to a city instead of a safer one, and in passing into a bridge or trestle (a place of danger according to his own theory) with full knowledge of the dangers he might encounter from doing so, voluntarily takes upon himself risks, the results of which he can hot shift at will upon other parties.</p> <p>8. It is not enough that a person voluntarily placing himself in a position requiring steadiness of nerve should entertain the hope or belief that he has the necessary firmness. The belief must be justified by the fact. I-Ie can-hot speculate on the subject.</p> <p>4. Parties claiming damages for personal injuries are sometimes relieved from the charge of contributory negligence by reason of having in a case of sudden danger had recourse to injudicious methods for escape, but those are cases where the first act upon which the charge is made to rest is this erroneous selection of a way to safety, not where the party is already chargeable with acts of contributory negligence of which this particular act is the mere supplement.</p>