Tennessee Litigation Reporter July-August 1996
 

Railroads - Man Killed at Crossing - Net Verdict of $430,765.30 in West Tennessee After Court Denies Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on Preemption.

The plaintiff's descendent, age forty, approached a crossing near his home in October 1993 in the predawn hours. He had safely crossed here since 1989, but this time he was struck and killed by a Norfolk Southern train. The crossing, which was protected with the minimum protection of crossbucks installed under the state mop-up detail financed with federal funds, was severely obstructed. The sight distance offered no view outside 3.7 seconds. The classification of the track allowed for sixty miles an hour train speed. The highway speed of fifty-five miles an hour, with the limited sight distance, put the crossing within the 23 CFR 646.214(b)(3) category.
 

The plaintiff claimed that the defendant failed to identify the hazards, creating an ultra-hazardous trap, failed to provide active protection and failed to clear vegetation immediately adjacent to the track/roadbed and failed to provide adequate warning by horn of headlamp. The defendant claimed preemption from use of federal funds despite the lack of use of a diagnostic team, but summary judgment was denied on the issue. The defendant also claimed that the descendant knew the crossing was there and with a maximum of six seconds warning he was adequately warned by horn. A jury returned a $615,000 verdict, which was reduced by thirty percent of the descendant's negligence, for a total of $430,765.30.

Plaintiff's Experts: Archie Burnham, crossing conditions, Ellenwood, GA. Bernhard S. Adams, visibility, Columbus, OH.
 

Defendant's Experts: Tom Rose, sound, Flower Mound, TX. Gary Wolf, liability, Atlanta, GA.
 

Dedra Shanklin v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., U.S. District Court, Western District, Eastern Division, Case No. 94-1212. Pamela R. O'Dwyer, Chattanooga, for the plaintiff. Everett B. Gibson, Memphis, for the defendant.