Marks' Adm'r v. Petersburg Railroad
Supreme Court of Virginia
Argued at Richmond. Decided at Wytheville. Error to judgment of the hustings court of the city of Petersburg, rendered on the 15th of November, 1889, in an action of trespass on the ease, wherein W. R. McKenney, administrator of Elmira V. Marks, deceased, was plaintiff, and the Petersburg Railroad Company was defendant.
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Argued at Richmond. Decided at Wytheville. Error to judgment of the hustings court of the city of Petersburg, rendered on the 15th of November, 1889, in an action of trespass on the ease, wherein W. R. McKenney, administrator of Elmira V. Marks, deceased, was plaintiff, and the Petersburg Railroad Company was defendant. The action was brought to recover damages for the alleged negligent killing of the plaintiff’s intestate by the defendant company, at the intersection of its road with Market street, in the city of Petersburg, on the 27th of May, 1889. The deceased, a woman fifty-three years…
1Opinion of the Court
Lewis, P.
(after stating the case), delivered the opinion of the court.
The rules which govern a case like this are well settled. A railroad company, undoubtedly, is bound to exercise care to avoid a collision where its road crosses a public highway, and the greater the danger the greater is the vigilance required. It has accordingly been held in numerous cases, independently of any statute or ordinance on the subject, that when a train is backed over a crossing in a frequented street, a look-out must be employed; that merely ringing the bell or sounding the whistle on the engine, Avhen the…
2Cases cited8 opinions
- Inland & Seaboard Coasting Co. v. TolsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1891
- Railroad Company v. HoustonSupreme Court of the United States · 1878
- Continental Improvement Co. v. SteadSupreme Court of the United States · 1877
- French v. Taunton Branch RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1875
- Dun v. Seaboard & Roanoke RailroadSupreme Court of Virginia · 1884
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3Cited by17 opinions
- Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad v. WilliamsSupreme Court of Florida · 1896
- Johnson's Adm'r v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.Supreme Court of Virginia · 1895
- Southern Railway Co. v. DavesSupreme Court of Virginia · 1908
- Flynn v. Pittsburgh Railways Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1912
- Richmond Passenger & Power Co. v. GordonSupreme Court of Virginia · 1904
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