The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

$2.5M Verdict Upheld Against Lumber Company that Blocked View of Oncoming Train

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Larry Bodine

The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a $2.5 million wrongful death verdict for a driver killed by a train he could not see because a lumber company blocked his view with a tall stack of lumber.

Lumber company liable for wrongful death when lumber stack blocked view of oncoming train.

The driver was unable to see past the stacked lumber, and was struck and killed by the three-engine train going approximately 45 miles per hour.

In October 2004, truck driver Charles Settle, was making his seventh trip for the day across the private road and railroad crossing owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad in Haymarket, VA. It was controlled only with “cross buck signs,” according to court documents.

Norfolk also owned the right-of-way, extending 30 feet in each direction of the railroad track, which allowed for the “locomotive train crews and the public to safely proceed across the tracks” by “maintaining clear sight” for safety purposes, according to the testimony of a Norfolk representative.

The RGR, LLC lumber company operated a business of offloading lumber from train cars to tractor-trailers, adjacent to the Norfolk railroad track. At the time of the accident, their lumber was stacked seven feet high within the 30 foot right-of-way, “needlessly cutting down the visibility of a motorist,” according court testimony of the RGR owner.

Unable to see

The Virginia Supreme court affirmed that because of RGR’s negligence: Settles was unable to see past the stacked lumber, and crossed into the railroad track where he was struck and killed by the three-engine train going approximately 45 miles per hour, pulling more than 100 cars, according to the court ruling.

Settles widow reached a $500,000 settlement with Norfolk.  In their appeal, RGR argued that Settles widow failed to establish they had a duty of care, and denied they had a duty of care to take reasonable steps to make the railroad crossing safe as they did not own the property.  RGR also alleged that Settle shared in contributory negligence for failing to look and listen for the train, according to the court decision.

Lumber company duty of care

RGR argued that because Settle was on a private road and on the railroad crossing owned by Norfolk, they owed no duty to Settles because Virginia does not recognize a duty of reasonable care on obstructions on private property nor one to protect “mere sight lines,” according to the ruling.

The court ruled that RGR owed a legal duty of care to Settles and others, regardless of property ownership. It said the duty arises if an injury “could have been reasonably foreseen by the exercise of reasonable care,” thereby prompting a reasonable person to “avoid conduct that creates risks of harms to others.”

Other drivers who also crossed the track several times that day testified that they could not see the tracks behind the lumber stacks when they approached the tracks.

No contributory negligence

RGR alleged that Settles was contributorily negligent for “failing to look and listen for the train,” according to the court documents.  Evidence and testimony discussed in the court’s ruling showed that Settles could not have seen or heard the train.

Other drivers and an RGR employee also testified that they only heard the horn once, while others testified they never heard the train horn.  A truck operation expert witness testified that it was likely difficult for Settles to hear noise outside his truck cab.

The court affirmed the jury’s determination that Settles did not share in contributory negligence as he “had the duty to look and listen with reasonable care,” not the “absolute duty to discover the presence of the train.”

Settles, who was delivering gravel to a pipeline construction site, was familiar with the road and railroad crossing.  According to court documents, another driver testified that trucks would typically slow down and check for trains, and proceed without stopping if a train is not present.  The court also stated it could be inferred from Settles’ familiarity with the track, that he was aware that trains usually traveled in the opposite direction of the train that hit him.

Driver action was not the proximate cause of collision

The court also determined that Settles likely knew that the lumber stack blocked his view, which would force him to rely on his hearing to cross the track, but because the train horn was not sounded, Settles could not have taken any other actions to avoid the collision, refuting the claim by RGR that Settles actions were the proximate cause of the collision.

The jury and Virginia Supreme court affirmed that Settles was not negligent in his death, and that RGR’s lumber stacks obstructed Settles’ view, which was the proximate cause of him crossing the path of the train, causing his death.  The Jury and court affirmed Settle’s widow an award of $2.5 million against RGR, deducting the $500,000 already settled with Norfolk.

The case is RGR, LLC v. Settles, 764 S.E.2d 8 (Va. 2014).

Posted in Blog, Wrongful death

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Santa Fe Agrees To a $36M Settlement With the Firms Responsible For Constructing Its Water Project

Santa Fe Agrees To a $36M Settlement With the Firms Responsible For Constructing Its Water Project

The board of the Santa Fe city and county’s joint Buckman Direct Diversion agreed to a $36 million settlement last wee[Read More...]
Health Net Repaid $97.2M To Settle an Investigation Confirming It Over-Billed the U.S. For Veterans Care

Health Net Repaid $97.2M To Settle an Investigation Confirming It Over-Billed the U.S. For Veterans Care

A Rancho Cordova health insurance company has repaid $97.2 million to settle an investigation into inflated claims submitted [Read More...]
Sessions at the 2021 Trial Lawyers Summit

Sessions at the 2021 Trial Lawyers Summit

On May 4 - 7, 2021, The National Trial Lawyers will present the 10th annual Trial Lawyers Summit, hosted at the Loews Mi[Read More...]
The U.S. Settles the 1800s Land Grabs With the Pembina Band of Chippewas for $59M

The U.S. Settles the 1800s Land Grabs With the Pembina Band of Chippewas for $59M

FARGO — A delegation that negotiated a treaty to obtain a large swath of the Red River Valley from the Ojibwe showed u[Read More...]
A Settlement With the Department of Agriculture Will Bring $715M in Food Stamps To Pennsylvania Households

A Settlement With the Department of Agriculture Will Bring $715M in Food Stamps To Pennsylvania Households

(Pittsburgh) — A legal settlement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two Pennsylvania women who are food st[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.