The families of four young people won a verdict against BNSF Railway Company on March 28.  The Supreme Court upheld that the district court’s instructions to the jury to apply common-law or “reasonable person” standard of care as fair.  It was only after the verdict that the attorneys requested a new trial on several grounds, including that the plaintiffs had to prove the railroad company failed to comply with a different standard of care.  However, the Supreme Court denied the new trial motion.

The four young people were killed when their car collided with one of the company’s trains.  The families claim BNSF negligently maintained the warning signals at the crossing and had failed to comply with several maintenance and signal regulations.