Write an
IRAC paragraph based on the following facts, issue, and cases.
Facts Ms.
Jones was waiting to get off the commuter train in the train’s vestibule. The
commuter train pulled into the station and Ms. Jones descended the stairs to
disembark from the train. The conductor exited the train first to watch the
passengers exit the train and then signal to close the doors and for the train
to start rolling. Ms. Jones was carrying her briefcase, which had a long strap.
As Ms. Jones exited the train the briefcase strap was behind her. The train
doors shut with Ms. Jones on the platform but with the briefcase strap still
inside the door. The train dragged Ms. Jones about 10 feet and she suffered a
broken shoulder. The issue you have to consider is whether the conductor’s
negligence by signaling for the train to start was the proximate cause of Ms.
Jones’s broken shoulder. The issue that you should focus your case synthesis on
is whether the conductor’s failure to see that Ms. Jones’s briefcase strap was
inside the door as he signaled for the train to start moving is the proximate
cause of her broken shoulder. Read the two cases: Smithers v. Atlantic City
Railroad, 12 Nowhere 2d 5 (2014). Mr. John Smith was injured on the Atlantic
City Railroad when the train lurched with great violence as it rounded a curve
on the track. The train was overcrowded. Smith was injured without fault on his
part. The motorman drove the overcrowded car too fast around the curve, so as
to cause it to give a severe lurch. Where a passenger train is overcrowded and
the employees operating the train know of such condition, it is their duty to
exercise additional care commensurate with the dangers. The motorman knew of
the overcrowded conditions and failed to exercise additional care when rounding
the curve. Mr. Smith was injured when the train lurched as it rounded the curve
because he fell onto another passenger. The motorman’s failure to exercise the
requisite care was the proximate cause of Mr. Smith’s injuries. Blue v.
Boardwalk Railroad, 15 Nowhere 2d 9 (2000). Mr. Robert Blue was blinded by a
sudden gust of steam and fell underneath the train he was in the process of
boarding at the station; Mr. Blue’s arm was severed by the train as it started
to leave the station. Regular inspection of couplings is a required duty of
conductors. Failure to inspect the couplings for leaks is a negligent act on
the part of the defendant. Railroad’s allowing steam to escape was the
proximate cause of Mr. Blue’s injury, since a man of ordinary prudence could
have foreseen that escaping steam would result from leaks in the uninspected
couplings. The consequence of the escaping steam, due to the railroad’s failure
to inspect the couplings, resulted in a foreseeable injury to a passenger or
person waiting on the platform.
Leave a Reply