Carter v. Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway Co.

The Federal Safety Appliance Acts require railroad cars used in interstate commerce to be equipped with couplers coupling automatically by impact.1 This case brings before us for review another action for damages by a railroad employee under the Safety Appliance Acts and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.2 The trial court instructed the jury that there could be no liability based on any “defect” in the “automatic coupling system,” but submitted the case on issues of negligence. There was a verdict against the plaintiff upon which judgment for the railroad was entered. The Court of Appeals…