CHARLES JONES, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILROAD COMPANY, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1969-03-24
No. 1203
WALDEN, C. J., and McCAIN, J., concur.
220 So. 2d 922 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1969) Caution
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

The appellate court affirmed a jury verdict for the defendant railroad company in a wrongful death action where a minor was killed in a collision with a train at a railroad crossing.


Holding

The trial court did not err in refusing to admit the city ordinance into evidence, as the ordinance was not applicable to the facts of the case.


Facts & Procedural History

A 15-year-old boy, familiar with the crossing, was killed when his motorcycle collided with a train. The plaintiff appealed the jury's verdict for the…

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Opinion of the Court
TEDDER, GEORGE W., Jr., Associate Judge.

TEDDER, GEORGE W., Jr., Associate Judge.

Plaintiff Charles Jones appeals a final judgment of the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, Florida, entered on a jury verdict for the defendant, Florida East Coast Railroad Company. A street-railway crossing was the scene of the events that is the subject matter of the controversy involved herein and the parties will be referred to here in the same position occupied by each in the trial court.

Plaintiff’s minor son, Jerry Jones, fifteen (15) years of age, was killed in a collision between his motorcycle and a train at a railroad crossing in the City of Lake Worth, Florida. The deceased was driving his motorcycle on which one of his classmates was a passenger, and these boys were with a group of school boys going from school to a physical education class.

Decedent was familiar with the crossing because he had traveled over it at other times. The evidence is clear that he ran into and struck the train at a point one hundred ninety-three (193) feet from the front of the train.

There was evidence from which the jury could believe the decedent was traveling at any speed between twenty-five (25) and thirty (30) miles per hour, while an expert in answer to a hypothetical question stated that, had the deceased been traveling at a rate of twenty-three (23) to twenty-four (24) miles per hour he would not have had the collision. The speed limit at the time and place was twenty-five (25) miles per hour.

Testimony was in conflict as to whether the train engineer had sounded his whistle or bell. There was no electrical signal device at the crossing, although there was a standard crossbuck sign and a round yellow sign with the letters “RR” on it. A hedge or row of shrubbery, partially blocking the view, was located near the intersection.

There was testimony that Jerry Jones applied his brakes; there were no skid marks, but there were gouge marks in the pavement where the cycle had been laid down on its side before impact.

During the trial counsel for the plaintiff attempted to introduce into evidence Section 33-13 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Lake Worth which provides:

“Every railroad company maintaining railroad tracks in or through the city over which railroad trains are operated, shall be and is hereby required to install, maintain and operate at each and every street crossing, where the streets of the city intersect with such tracks, automatic electric signal devices. Such devices shall be erected in such manner as to be visible to persons approaching such crossing from either direction, and shall *924be so constructed as to automatically give warning, both by the flashing of a red light and the sounding of a gong or bell; of the approach of each and every train over such railroad tracks. Such signal devices shall be of such standard design as shall be approved by the city manager and shall be so constructed as to give ample and sufficient warning of the approach of every train over such crossings to enable persons at or near the same to avoid injury thereon; provided, however, that wherever any railroad company has established crossing gates at any crossing in the city, such railroad company shall not be required to install the aforesaid automatic electric signal devices so long as the crossing gates are maintained and operated by the railroad company.”

The learned trial court refused to admit the ordinance into evidence stating that since the deceased was familiar with the crossing in question, that to charge the jury on this ordinance would be charging them on a factual situation unsupported by the evidence.

The sole question raised on this appeal is whether the trial court erred in refusing to admit the City of Lake Worth Ordinance.

Violation of a municipal ordinance is prima facie evidence of negligence. Mc-Quillin, Municipal Corporations, 3rd Edition, Vol. 7, § 24.731, provides, in part:

“The failure of a railroad to erect and maintain crossing signals or signs as required by statute or ordinance may constitute or at least evidence actionable negligence; this depends on the facts of the case and the law of the state in question relative to ordinance violations as affecting actions based on negligence.” (Emphasis added.)

The plaintiff was entitled to have the jury consider whether the violation of this ordinance constituted evidence of negligence and was a proximate cause of the collision in question.

The judgment appealed from should be reversed and a new trial ordered.

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and this cause is remanded for a new trial.

WALDEN, C. J., and McCAIN, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • …t, 404 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981) (violation of State Fire Marshal’s rules); Hines v. Reichhold Chemicals, Inc., 383 So. 2d 948 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980) (statutory violation of emission of gases and noxious odors); Jones v. Fla. East Coast R.R. Co., 220 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969) (violation of municipal ordinance requiring railroad crossing signals); Conroy v. Briley, 191 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966) (violation of city ordinance regarding handrail on stairways); Florida East Coast Railway Co. v. Pollack…
  • Tynan v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co., 254 So. 2d 209 (Fla. 1971)
    …ive is contributory negligence. “The Plaintiff brought two recent decisions to the attention of the Court: Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company v. Scudder, Fla.App.1968; 215 So. 2d 760, and Jones v. Florida East Coast Railway Company, Fla.App.1969, 220 So. 2d 922. Counsel has furnished the Court with briefs in both of these cases as well as the Court file including photographs in the Scudder case. This Court does not take issue with the principles enunciated in either of those cases but finds that they are n…
  • Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Pedro Nieves deJESUS, 266 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972)
    …So. 2d 601. Judge Johnson’s dissent cites a later Third District case, Florida East Coast Railway Company v. Hardee, 162 So. 2d 704. But that case hinged on federal preemption in FELA cases. . Fla.App.1st 1968, 215 So. 2d 491. . Fla.App.4th 1969, 220 So. 2d 922. . 7 McQuillin, Municipal Corporations, 3d ed. § 24.731. . The Comments to Restatement (Second), Torts, still do not make this distinction clear. See especially § 288B and Comment. . Koonovsky v. Quellette, 1917, 226 Mass. 474, 116 N.E. 243. . F…

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