Tort Law

Brien Roche

This page within Virginia Tort Case Law is a compilation of cases reported by the Virginia Supreme Court and summarized by Brien Roche dealing with the topic of Railroad-Duty to Warn. For more information on railroads see the pages on Wikipedia. 

Railroad-Duty to Warn-Statutes

See Va. Code § 56-416 as to effect of failure to give statutory signal.

Railroad-Duty to Warn-Cases

1978 Norfolk & W. Ry. v. Chrisman, 219 Va. 184, 247 S.E.2d 457.

As delivering carrier, defendant owed to employees of consignee duty to exercise ordinary care to inspect freight car to determine if it was reasonably safe for unloading and to repair or give warning of any dangerous condition discovered by inspection.

1976 Norfolk & W. Ry. v. Wright, 217 Va. 515, 229 S.E.2d 890.

Defendant’s engineer exempt from statutory duty to blow whistle because accident occurred inside corporate limits. Even if given, fair inference that driver would be mentally and physically unable to properly react as postmortem blood analysis showed 0.13 alcohol weight content.

1952 Selfe v. Hale, 193 Va. 543, 69 S.E.2d 434.

Plaintiff injured when mining company train struck bus which in turn struck plaintiff. Bus pulled off road to let off passengers, but rear of bus was partially across track. Mining company contended that it was not required to give signals required by statute. But Va. Code § 56-342 [now repealed] states that it is applicable to mining corporations.

1952 Virginian Ry. v. Craighead, 193 Va. 300, 68 S.E.2d 647.

Plaintiff injured when her car struck by defendant’s electric railway engine. Failure to give statutory signals required by Va. Code §§ 56-414 and 56-416. Contributory negligence, however, gross or flagrant, is no bar to recovery where Va. Code § 56-416 is applicable, and there is evidence from which jury may infer that failure to give signals proximately contributed to it in any degree or in any way. It is common knowledge that train whistle or bell is more easily heard than train itself and travelers usually heed such warning.

1951 Norfolk Belt Line R.R. v. Freeman, 192 Va. 400, 64 S.E.2d 732.

There is common law duty of railroad to give adequate and timely warning of approach of train.