Carpenter v. Consolidated Rail Corp.

This case presents but a single issue: whether the Federal Railroad Safety Act and the Highway Safety Act preempt state law over negligence suits alleging a failure to maintain adequate grade crossing warning devices. Based upon the United States Supreme Court’s decision in CSX Transp., Inc. v. Easterwood (1993), 507 U.S.-, 113 S.Ct. 1732, 123 L.Ed.2d 387, and our own interpretation of the legislation at issue, we find no preemption and therefore affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.

We recently addressed the preemptive effect of the Federal Railroad Safety Act in the context of a…