Norfolk Southern Corporation v. Zimmerman

(1) Whether 23 U.S.C. § 409, which prohibits the evidentiary use of reports "compiled or collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating or planning" safety enhancements "pursuant to" three federal highway programs, bars the admission of National Crossing Inventory reports and railroad accident reports collected from railroads by the Federal Railroad Administration for the purpose of identifying railroad crossings in need of safety enhancements; and (2) whether 49 U.S.C. § 20903, which prohibits the evidentiary use of a federally mandated railroad accident report in an action "for damages resulting from a matter mentioned in the report," bars the admission of reports of accidents at a railroad crossing in a tort suit arising out of an accident at the crossing.