Railroads

Law Reporter
Volume 38, Number 9

November 1995

Bye v. Louisiana Pac. U.S. Dist. Ct., E.D. Cal., No. CV-S-94-V745 (GEB JFM), June 1, 1995

Hobbs, a Louisiana Pacific employee, was operating a skiploader on a private road owned by the railroad. As he pulled out from a stop sign into an intersection with a public road, the skiploader hit bye’s motorcycle. he suffered fatal internal injuries. Bye, 34, had been a mill worker earning about $32,000 annually. He is survived by his wife and four minor stepchildren.

Bye’s wife, individually and on behalf of his stepchildren, sued Louisiana Pacific, alleging improper maintenance of the service road in that vegetation at the stop sigh obstructed employees’ view of oncoming traffic. Plaintiffs claimed defendant had known about the dangerous condition but failed to remedy it. Plaintiff also sued the railroad under respondeat superior for Hobb’s negligence in failing to yield the right-of-way.

The parties settled for about $722,800. Bye’s wife received $360,000, and the children, the remainder divided equally.

Plaintiffs’ Expert

Scott Guthrie, accident reconstruction, Tallahassee, Fla.

Plaintiffs’ Counsel:

*Brian J. Panish, Santa Monica, Cal.

Brent Jordan, San Francisco, Cal.

Kenneth miller, San Francisco, Cal.

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