Enacted in 1893 as the first federal railroad-safety statute, the Safety Appliance Act required automatic couplers, air brakes, and grab irons on railroad cars moving in interstate commerce. The Supreme Court read it to impose an absolute duty on carriers: a failure of the required equipment is itself actionable, without proof of negligence. Its requirements survive at 49 U.S.C. §§ 20301–20306 and still supply the standard of care in railroad-injury litigation under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.
Safety Appliance Act
recodifiedCodified at49 U.S.C. §§ 20301–20306
Enacted March 2, 1893 · ch. 196, 27 Stat. 531
Originally codified at 45 U.S.C. §§ 1–16; recodified at 49 U.S.C. ch. 203 in 1994.