Wright v. Norfolk and Western Railway Co.

Riley Wright, an experienced truck driver who had lived less than a mile from a particular railroad crossing for ten years and had already crossed it four times that day, drove his gravel-filled dump truck across the tracks a fifth time following another truck, when a train struck his truck's passenger side. The weather was clear, the train's horn and whistle had been blaring for miles, and Wright had his windows up, the air conditioning running, and both his radio and CB radio on. A jury awarded him $4 million after being instructed on contributory negligence, but the trial court set the verdict aside.

Whether a defendant is absolved from liability for negligence if he proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff's contributory negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries.