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Duncan v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co.10/30/2000
s' evidence supported "a view that KCS knew of the risks created by the unique circumstances at the crossing and that adequate steps were not taken to render the condition safe for motorists." Duncan, 747 So. 2d at 664.
The plaintiffs presented the testimony of Dr. Kenneth Wayne Heathington, an expert in the fields of traffic engineering; highway design, operation, and safety; railroad highway grade crossing design, operation, and safety; accident reconstruction; and human factors. Dr. Heathington testified that the East Iowa Road crossing presented a "unique and local safety hazard." In his opinion, federal regulations would require gates with flashing light signals rather than a stop sign to make the crossing safe. He also opined that the sight distances at the crossing were inadequate; a motorist stopped at the stop sign had a fifty-percent deficiency in sight distances to the south because of the trees and vegetation in the area. In explaining the "unique and local safety hazard" created by the crossing, Dr. Heathington stated:
Whenever you have other roads intersecting a roadway on an approach to a crossing, that is a potential for problems because of people entering or leaving or you having to enter and leave. The biggest problem here is the intersection with Highway 27, which is just a few feet across the track, roughly about 70 feet across the track. People have to merge with some fairly high speeds, relatively speaking, to East Iowa Road and volumes somewhat more, obviously, than East Iowa Road. And you have two stop signs, one right behind the other. You're trying to look to see what you're supposed to do, and that can present a problem both from visual clutter, both from the conspicuity or the attention-gettingness of that intersection for a person approaching that crossing. And they may be looking to say, you know, I'm going to turn left or right or whatever I'm going to do at that intersection, and miss some of the traffic control devices at the crossing itself. Now, nobody is saying that you can alleviate that intersection; but when those things are there, then other things have to be done to compensate for those deficiencies, in other words to compensate for it.
Based on the testimony of Dr. Heathington, the jury could have reasonably concluded that KCS had a duty to plaintiffs to protect against the unique hazard presented by the East Iowa Road crossing. Further, KCS had a duty to keep the right-of-way clear so as to ensure no deficiency in sight distances for drivers stopped at the stop sign. The next question to be addressed is whether KCS breached its duty.
The plaintiffs presented testimony of two local school bus drivers who had driven across the East Iowa Road tracks on a consistent basis. Both drivers testified that the growth of vegetation and trees in the area of the right-of-way obstructed the view to the south of the track. One driver, Mabel Yvonne Lorenz, testified that she complained to KCS employees on at least three occasions about the overgrowth of vegetation. The other driver, Miriam Massey, testified that she complained to parish road crews and her "police juryman" about the crossing. Further, KCS admitted the vegetation impeded the view to the south of the tracks when motorists are on the cattleguard, which is 62 feet from the tracks. However, KCS contends that once motorists leave the cattleguard and pass a fence row which is covered with brush, the view is unimpeded. The bus drivers' testimony and KCS' admission that the view to the south is impeded until after passing the cattleguard supports a finding that KCS breached its duty to maintain adequate sight distances.
While both plaintiffs and defendants concede Mitchell'
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