ABSTRACT
The Railroad Safety Appliance Act, 1893, is the starting point in the emergence of the "Transportation Tort Law School" - the historical origin of patterns in transportation safety thinking. "Torts" have been defined as a comprehensive legal term for any type of civil wrong, with the exception of a breach of contract, for which the courts will provide relief in the form of damages for injury suffered. The three basic goals of the law of torts are: (1) to compensate individuals who have suffered a loss or injury as a result of another's action or conduct; (2) to force only the wrongdoer to be responsible for the costs; and (3) to prevent future loss or injury.' This chapter includes selected references to highly publicized American tort law cases in the automobile and air transportation sectors. These cases have set hitherto unseen multi-billion dollar jury awards in California and new legal precedents in Florida of criminal liability and murder indictments in an accidental airline crash. The chapter also references the role of singleminded individuals, fanatics to many, who have brought about changes in safety thinking.
