Cattle were not the only things with which trains collided. Persons could be injured or killed when trains ran into them at road crossings, or when trains derailed, or in the always perilous process of getting on or off. In addition, the treatment of passengers could cause injuries to the dignity of respectable persons, as when a passenger was ejected for lacking a proper ticket. And of course, persons working on the railroads were injured or killed with monotonous regularity. When trains caused injuries to people, the same issues that gave rise to the idea of a public duty to avoid harm in the context of property were drawn with greater urgency. The outcome, however, was the same. Persons had a duty to govern their own conduct, as well as that of their property, in accordance with the standards of legal citizenship.

Injuries to Strangers: Crossing Cases

Collisions with people usually occurred at crossings, places where the traditional prerogative of mutual access to public highways collided with the realities of railroad operation. The Illinois legislature enacted a law in 1849 that required trains to give notice of their approach, by bell or whistle, and to keep a lookout on approaching a crossing. But by the rule of contributory negligence that was announced in Aurora v. Grimes (see the discussion in Chapter 3), the negligence of the plaintiff would stand as an absolute bar to recovery.