Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/320

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282
AN ENGLISH RAILWAY.

be assessed upon the same principles which apply to goods.

(12.) Railway companies are also liable for the negligence of their servants, resulting in death or personal injury to any person. In the case of death no action was maintainable until the passing, in 1846, of the Act known as Lord Campbell's Act, under which an action can now be brought for the benefit of the parents, grand parents, children, grandchildren or step-children of the deceased person (but not on behalf of any other relative or person), provided the action be brought within twelve months of the death of the deceased. In any such action, actual pecuniary loss must be shown to have been sustained by the persons for whose benefit the action is brought.

In an action for personal injury the plaintiff is entitled to recover, not only the pecuniary loss sustained by him by reason of the accident, such as loss of salary, wages or business profits, and any expenses incurred for medical fees, extra nourishment, nursing, change of air, assistance in business, and the like, but also compensation for bodily pain and suffering. The claim may, furthur, include compensation for losses or expenses to be incurred before the plaintiff may have completely recovered from the effects of the accident, or for any permanent injury which he may have sustained.