Wilkinson v. Southern Pacific Co.

This wrongful death action resulted from a railroad crossing collision between a truck driven by plaintiffs’ decedent and defendant’s passenger train. A jury-trial culminated in a defense verdict, following which plaintiffs moved for a new trial. The new trial motion was denied. Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment.

One of the factual issues was whether the train crew had complied with their statutory duty to sound the engine bell and whistle as the train approached the crossing. In the course of its instructions, the court read to the jury an excerpt from Public Utilities Code section 7604,…