Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis Railroad v. Byam

Citations

• 80 Ill. 528

Syllabus

<p>Negligence—no recovery for death where deceased was guilty of gross negligence. Where a person was killed by a train at a railway crossing which was difficult to cross, and dangerous, was perfectly familiar with this fact, yet attempted to cross the same with a team about the time a regular train was due, without looking to see if the train was in sight, it being in the daytime1 and the whistle was sounded ninety rods distant from the crossing, and the bell rung continuously, and an alarm sounded some twenty-five rods before reaching the crossing, when the deceased was upon the track, and he then discovered the train for the first time, and before he could get off was killed, the company using every exertion to prevent the accident, it was held, that the negligence of the deceased was so great as to preclude a recovery, even though the company was derelict in not making the crossing safe and easy to get over.</p>