| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | Pakora is driving along the railroad, and there are some boxcars obscuring the view. Smash-up! |
| Posture: | Directed verdict for the railroad at trial (relying on Goodman, affirmed on appeal. |
| Issue: | Should the jury have been allowed to determine whether reasonable caution would preclude driving further? |
| Holding: | Yes. Reversed and remanded for further proceedings. |
| Rule: | Deciding what is prudent for a traveler when ordinary safeguards fail is a task for the jury. |
| Reasoning: | He had a duty to be cautious, but there's a standard of prudent conduct at issue here. Maybe stopping and getting out would be at least as dangerous as proceeding-- there were lots of factors in play: other traffic, etc. We got a little carried away in Goodman and the result has been an unduly defendant-friendly standard. |
| Dicta: | This is Cardozo. This is why courts need to be cautious articulating standards: people take them seriously, and the standards tend to set aside the particulars of the situation, which is a bad combination. |