Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993 TAG: 9304220068
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The justices, voting unanimously in a Georgia case involving CSX Corp., said federal laws and regulations cannot bar lawsuits invoking state negligence laws - provided federal funds have not been spent to upgrade traffic devices at a particular crossing.
The ruling dashes hopes the court would relieve railroads of a nagging problem: lawsuits blaming the carriers - and their engineers - for the injuries and deaths of motorists who drive in front of trains.
Railroads have long maintained that traffic signals at grade crossings are the responsibility of public transportation officials, not railroads.
"I don't think railroads should be held responsible for signalization at grade crossings," said Henry Light, a senior attorney with Norfolk Southern Corp. "I've never thought that was fair."
But in a separate 7-2 vote, the court said federal law shields railroads from one specific negligence claim - allegedly allowing trains to travel too fast through grade crossings.
The decision, long awaited by railroads and their lawyers, gives the family of Lizzie Easterwood the go-ahead to pursue its case against CSX Transportation Inc. Easterwood filed suit against the railroad in 1988 after her husband, Thomas, was killed by a CSX train at a crossing in Cartersville, Ga. Lizzie Easterwood died in February.
Railway grade crossing accidents are common: In 1990, for example, 5,022 such accidents occurred, resulting in 586 deaths and 2,186 injuries.
Wednesday's ruling is "really bad news because the railroads have put a massive effort" into the legal battle, said James Johnson, a Roanoke lawyer who has represented Norfolk Southern in grade-crossing cases. "It's really a huge issue, because if railroads prevailed on it, grade-crossing claims would be down the drain."
A CSX spokeswoman in Jacksonville, Fla., described the company's reaction as "mixed. . . . They did uphold the pre-emption on train speed; they did uphold the federal pre-emption where federal funds are involved.
"I think what we've got is the spark that will fuel the flame for federal legislation," she said. "There's a lot of vague areas regarding grade crossings."
CSX, a chief competitor to Norfolk Southern in the Southeast, counts 33,000 grade crossings within its system, 20,000 of which are public. Easterwood was hit at a public crossing.
Writing for the court, Justice Byron White said regulations adopted by the Department of Transportation under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 do not pre-empt all of the Easterwoods' negligence claim but do exempt the excessive-speed claim.
The Easterwood lawsuit contends that the railroad failed to trim excess vegetation that obstructed the view of the train's engineers and of Thomas Easterwood. The suit also says flashing lights at the crossing were positioned in a way that could be obscured by the morning sun.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
by CNB