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Truck driver found contributorily negligent as a matter of law.

On February 14, 2005, a train collided with a log truck at an intersection in Clarke County. As a result of this accident, an injured employee of the railroad sued the railroad, the truck driver, and the trucking company (owner of the driver's rig). Ultimately, the lawsuit became an question of whether the truck driver or the railroad had caused the accident.

On April 17, 2009, after a trial in the Clarke County Circuit Court, a jury decided the railroad was liable for the accident and awarded—

  • The truck driver compensatory damages of $1.5 million and punitive damages of $3 million.
  • The truck driver's wife compensatory damages of $250,000.
  • The trucking company compensatory damages of $130,000.
  • The owner of the trucking company compensatory damages of $68,250.

Maintaining that the truck driver (and trucking company) were contributorily negligent as a matter of law, the railroad appealed the jury's verdict to the Alabama Supreme Court. The supreme court found that the jury's verdict was wrong as a matter of law, concluding that—

  • The driver had failed to exercise reasonable care; that is, he did not stop, look, and listen before he attempted to cross the railroad tracks.
  • The driver's failure to exercise reasonable care was the sole cause of the collision.
  • Because the truck diver's negligence was the sole proximate cause of the collision, the judgment in favor of the driver, the trucking company, and the owner of the trucking company had to be reversed.

See Norfolk Southern Railway Company v. Johnson, decided on March 11, 2011.

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