Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Johnson, 75 So. 3d 624

Collision occurred at Walker Springs Road crossing in Clarke County between a Rolison box-truck and a Norfolk Southern train; drivers Johnson and Grandison were involved and injured.
Plaintiffs alleged Norfolk Southern obstructed sight lines with boxcars on a sidetrack and/or failed to sound the horn, and alleged excessive train speed; Norfolk Southern denied liability and asserted Johnson’s contributory negligence.
Trial evidence included photographs, reenactments, eyewitness testimony, and event data from the train’s black box; multiple witnesses described obstructed or unobstructed views depending on evidentiary perspective.
Johnson testified he stopped behind the crossbuck, looked left and right, did not hear or see a train, and began to ease forward, with boxcars blocking his view to the south.
The jury found for the Johnson/Rolison plaintiffs on some claims and for Norfolk Southern on others; post-trial motions and remittitur followed, culminating in appellate review.
The Alabama Supreme Court reversed as to negligence and wantonness claims against Norfolk Southern and as to the property-damage claim, remanding for disposition consistent with the ruling.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Johnson was contributorily negligent as a matter of law	Johnson stopped, looked, and listened but boxcars obstructed view.	Johnson should have stopped earlier and would have seen the train; statutory duty applies.	Johnson contributorily negligent as a matter of law
Whether wantonness-based liability exists where contributory negligence is established	Evidence showed alleged wanton conduct by Norfolk Southern.	Contributory negligence precludes wantonness liability when the motorist’s actions were sole proximate cause.	No wantonness; proximate cause lies with Johnson
Whether Norfolk Southern’s property-damage claims were properly resolved against Johnson	Railroad property damage claims should stand if train crew acted negligently/wantonness.	Damages should be recovered against Johnson given his contributory negligence.	Reversed with remand; Johnson’s conduct foreclosed Norfolk Southern’s property-damage recovery

Ridgeway v. CSX Transp., Inc., 723 So.2d 600 (Ala.1998) (contributory-negligence standard and stop-look-listen doctrine at crossings)
Lambeth v. Gulf, Mobile & Ohio R.R., 273 Ala. 387 (Ala.1962) (stop, look, and listen duty as general rule; contributory negligence per se)
Callaway v. Adams, 252 Ala. 136 (Ala.1949) (exceptional circumstances to stop-look-listen duty; ordinary care depends on facts)
Louisville & N.R.R. v. Williams, 172 Ala. 560 (Ala.1911) (context for stop-look-listen duty dependent on familiarity and circumstances)
Amtrak v. H&P, Inc., 949 F.Supp. 1556 (M.D. Ala. 1996) (federal perspective on crossing negligence and photo-evidence conflict (cited for analogy))