Hurst v. Union Pacific Railroad

JOHN P. MOORE, Circuit Judge.

This appeal unlooses a legal dinosaur, which, once out, tramples twentieth century negligence law and then lumbers back to its dark cave only to await another victim. The jurisprudential fossils it leaves behind are truly daunting as this case illustrates. However, absent any contra-indication from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the dinosaur prevails.

At issue in this diversity action is Oklahoma’s “occupied crossing rule” which governs the relationship between individuals traveling upon public roads that cross railroad tracks and railroads whose moving or stationary…