| At the time this trolley was built, assumption of the risk would have been an absolute defense to tort liability. That, combined with the "common servant" doctrine was why working on the railroad was so deadly in the 19th Century and up to the passage of the Federal Employees Liability Act (FELA). The rules in the 19th Century/early 20th Century were different for passengers - while railroad employees were generally completely forbidden to recover due to common law tort doctrines, the common law also provided a high level of care on common carriers for passengers for pay. Thus, why the United Railway & Electric Co. crafted this warning and asserted that they would use the "assumption of risk" defense (which at common law was a complete bar - the best description comes from Judge Cardozo's delightful opinion in Murphry v. Steeplechase Entertainment in the New York Court of Appeals (1927) regarding the Coney Island attraction with the delightful name of "The Flopper." One also wonders if the warning served another purpose - persons might have been tempted to enter a moving trolley to avoid paying the fare. Just a bit of legal history - I probably just provided two days worth of torts class for free. I paid William & Mary School of Law quite a bit more than "free" for it. |