O.C.G.A. § 46-8-150 (2019)
Qualifications of locomotive engineers
(a) No railroad company operating trains in this state shall employ or allow in charge of any of its locomotives in this state, as a locomotive engineer (except locomotive engines used in yard service), any person who has not had at least three years’ actual experience as a fireman or an engineer on a railway locomotive, or who has not served an apprenticeship of four years in a regular railroad machine shop and had in addition thereto one year’s actual experience as a locomotive fireman.
(b) Any railroad company which violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
History
(Ga. L. 1908, p. 49, §§ 1, 2; Civil Code 1910, § 2696; Penal Code 1910, § 525; Code 1933, §§ 94-902, 94-9907.)
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
No federal preemption. - Neither the regulations existing in 1988 nor the underlying federal statute either expressly or impliedly indicate that Congress had the intent to preempt state minimum standards for engineers prior to 1991. Mills v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 242 Ga. App. 324, 526 S.E.2d 585 (1999). Violation of section as cause of collision. - Because the knowledge, training, and
experience of an engineer to deal with specific hazards, such as an activation failure with a vehicle in the crossing, comes from service, an engineer’s experience of less than three years was an appropriate issue of causation for the jury to consider. Mills v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 242 Ga. App. 324, 526 S.E.2d 585 (1999). Cited in Georgia R.R. & Banking Co. v. Cook, 94 Ga. App. 650, 95 S.E.2d 703 (1956).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 65 Am. Jur. 2d, Railroads, § 277. C.J.S. - 74 C.J.S., Railroads, §§ 767, 768.
ALR. - Validity of statute prescribing qualifications for railroad employees, 58 ALR 569.