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Plank v. Town of Rayville6/21/2000
Judgment rendered June 21, 2000. Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by art. 2166, La. C.C.P.
PEATROSS, J.
This appeal arises out of a fatal train accident which occurred at a railroad crossing in Rayville, Louisiana. Plaintiffs, James E. Plank and Becky Plank Marable, are the adult children of the decedent, Marie Plank, who was killed when a train struck the rear portion of her car while she was stopped at a traffic light on a street intersecting the railroad tracks. Plaintiffs filed this wrongful death suit against the Town of Rayville ("Rayville"). After a bench trial, the trial court found Mrs. Plank 100 percent at fault for the accident and dismissed Plaintiffs' suit with prejudice. Plaintiffs appeal, challenging the trial court's finding of no liability on the part of Rayville and allocation of fault. The Town of Rayville has answered the appeal, asserting numerous alleged erroneous rulings on the part of the trial court. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.
FACTS
The Accident
Louisiana Street in Rayville runs north and south and is perpendicular to Kansas City Southern ("KCS") railroad tracks, which run east and west. On either side of the railroad tracks are streets which run parallel to the tracks,
U.S. Highway 80 on the north and Benedette Street on the south. There is a traffic light on Louisiana Street at its intersection with Highway 80 on the north side of the tracks. The record reveals that there is enough room for two vehicles between the railroad tracks and Highway 80, provided the northernmost vehicle stops close to the traffic light. On December 9, 1996, at approximately 8:20 a.m., Mrs. Plank left the post office after gathering her employer's mail and proceeded across the Louisiana Street crossing, coming to a stop behind another vehicle at the traffic light at Louisiana Street and Highway 80. The rear portion of her car cleared the tracks, but remained in the "foul line," which is the area on either side of the tracks that accommodates the width of the train engine.
There were approximately two to four feet between Mrs. Plank's vehicle and the vehicle in front of her. Several witnesses testified that a person could walk between the two vehicles and others testified that Mrs. Plank had sufficient room to move her vehicle forward to avoid the collision. Mrs. Plank was very familiar with the crossing and had traversed it numerous times.
The train was traveling in a westerly direction at approximately 47 to 48 miles per hour. As the train approached Rayville, it passed through two other crossings before reaching the Louisiana Street crossing. As such, R. C. Lindsey, the train engineer, began blowing the train's horn some distance before ever reaching the sign which alerts him to blow the horn for the Louisiana Street crossing. Mr. Lindsey testified that it was his usual practice to blow the train's horn continuously while traveling through Rayville, and he did so on the day of the accident.
Mr. Lindsey testified that he saw Mrs. Plank and noted that she was looking straight ahead, in the direction of the traffic light. It was not until the train was approximately 24 feet from the crossing, however, that Mr. Lindsey realized that the train would not clear the rear of Mrs. Plank's vehicle. At that point, Mr. Linsdsey "put the train in emergency" in an attempt to avoid the collision. Mr. Lindsey also testified that he noticed a vehicle on the tracks, behind Mrs. Plank, which backed off the tracks as the train approached.
The vehicle behind Mrs. Plank was driven by Darnell Grayson. Mr. Grayson testified that he noticed that Mrs. Plank
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