Carpenter v. Kurn
Supreme Court of Missouri
157 S.W.2d 213 (1941)
After a train engineered by Kurn (defendant) struck and killed pedestrian Reuben Carpenter, his widow (plaintiff) sued for wrongful death and introduced testimony about a visibility test her witnesses conducted, stationary and on foot, to measure the distance from which Kurn should have been able to see the victim in time to stop. The witnesses explained why testing on foot rather than from a moving train didn't undermine their results, the trial judge admitted the testimony over objection, and the jury found for Carpenter; Kurn appealed the admission of the test evidence.
Whether test results are admissible evidence of an accident's circumstances if the test is conducted under conditions comparable to those prevailing at the time of the accident.