Rafferty v. Portland, Vancouver & Yakima Railway Co.

Citations

• 32 Wash. 259
• 73 P. 382
• 1903 Wash. LEXIS 412

Syllabus

<p>KAILEOADS-KILLING STOCK-EVIDENCE.</p> <p>In an action for tbe killing of stock on a railroad right of way through negligence in the operation of the train at a point where stock was frequently encountered and likely to be caught in a trap, the plaintiff is entitled to show lack of cattle guards, although not alleged, as descriptive of the place, and as bearing upon the degree of care required under the conditions existing at that point.</p> <p>SAME-NEGLIGENCE-QUESTION EOE JURY.</p> <p>Where a witness of the plaintiff testifies that a locomotive and train of eleven empty cars, running upon a down grade of one per cent, at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, could be stopped within sixty feet, negligence in failing to stop the train is a question for the jury, notwithstanding the testimony of the defendant’s employees to the effect that the train was in all respects properly equipped and operated and that it could not have been stopped in any event before reaching the stock on the track about 400 feet away.</p> <p>SAME.</p> <p>Where a train consisting of a locomotive and eleven empty cars was running on a down grade of one per cent, at about ten or twelve miles an hour at a point where stock was frequently encountered and likely to be caught in a trap, it is a question for the jury whether defendant was guilty of negligence in running at this place at such a rate of speed that the train could not be controlled.</p>