Williams v. Chicago & Alton Railroad

Citations

• 135 Ill. 491

Syllabus

<p>I. Negligence—right of action—vn whom—generally. In order to a recovery for negligence, it is not sufficient to show that the defendant has neglected some duty or obligation existing at common law or imposed by statute, but it must be shown that the defendant has neglected a duty or obligation which it owes to him who claims damages for the neglect.</p> <p>2. Same—railroad crossings—omission to give proper signals—who may avail of the neglect. The duty of railroad companies to ring a bell or sound a whistle on a train approaching a highway crossing is intended for the benefit or protection of travelers,upon the public highways and passengers upon the passing train, and the place indicated is the intersection of a railroad with a public-highway.</p> <p>3. A railway company does not owe any duty to a person plowing in a field near where its road crosses a public highway, to ring a bell or sound a whistle eighty rods before reaching the crossing with a train, and if such person is injured in consequence of a neglect to give warning, or by frightening his team, he will have no right of action, based on such neglect of duty.</p>