Opinion
No. 34186
Decided April 27, 1955.
Railroads — Grade crossing — Flashing lights and short-arm gates — Installation ordered by Public Utilities Commission — Order not unlawful or unreasonable.
APPEAL from the Public Utilities Commission.
A proceeding before the Public Utilities Commission was instituted by the filing of a complaint alleging that a grade crossing of the appellant's railroad tracks and a certain county road in Champaign County is dangerous, and requesting that flashing warning lights be installed at the crossing. An inspector for the commission investigated the crossing and conditions complained of and recommended that the request for flasher lights be denied. A hearing was thereafter had before an attorney examiner for the commission, at which testimony was taken and exhibits presented on behalf of both the complainants and the respondent railroad company, appellant herein.
The examiner found that respondent operates two main tracks and two side tracks over the crossing, over which both passenger and freight trains move; that three quadrants of the crossing afford relatively unobstructed views and the sight distances are adequate; that in the fourth quadrant the view is seriously impaired by the presence of a grain elevator and other buildings; and that the combination of conditions at the crossing makes it dangerous. The examiner recommended that the respondent be ordered to install automatic flashing lights and short-arm gates.
The commission adopted the findings of fact and law of the attorney examiner; found that the exceptions to the examiner's report, based largely on the fact that the volume of traffic moving over the crossing is not large, were not well made, and further found that the conditions at the grain elevator, plus the need for protecting a school bus using the crossing daily during school season, warrant additional protection; and ordered installation of automatic flashing lights and short-arm gates.
An appeal from that order brings the cause to this court for review.
Mr. Wesley A. Wilkinson, Mr. A.C. Russell and Mr. Richard S. Weygandt, for appellant.
Mr. C. William O'Neill, attorney general, Mr. Ralph N. Mahaffey and Mr. Everett H. Krueger, Jr., for appellee.
This court will not substitute its judgment for that of the commission on questions of fact. It does not appear from an examination of the record that the order of the commission is unlawful or unreasonable. The order is, therefore, affirmed. Baltimore Ohio Rd. Co. v. Public Utilities Commission, 156 Ohio St. 282, 102 N.E.2d 246.
Order affirmed.
MATTHIAS, HART, ZIMMERMAN, STEWART, BELL and TAFT, JJ., concur.
WEYGANDT, C.J., not participating.