Cite as: 512 U. S. 532 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
as the "physical impact" test. It originated a century ago in some of the first cases recognizing recovery for negligently inflicted emotional distress. At the time Congress enacted FELA in 1908, most of the major industrial States had embraced this test. See Throckmorton, Damages for Fright, 34 Harv. L. Rev. 260, 263-264, and n. 25 (1921).6 Under the physical impact test, a plaintiff seeking damages for emotional injury stemming from a negligent act must have contemporaneously sustained a physical impact (no matter how slight) or injury due to the defendant's conduct. Most jurisdictions have abandoned this test, but at least five States continue to adhere to it.7
The second test has come to be referred to as the "zone of danger" test. It came into use at roughly the same time as the physical impact test, and had been adopted by several jurisdictions at the time FELA was enacted. See Throck-morton, supra, at 264-265, and n. 28.8 See also Bohlen, Right to Recover for Injury Resulting from Negligence Without Impact, 50 Am. L. Reg. 141, and nn. 3-5 (1902). Perhaps based on the realization that "a near miss may be as frightening as a direct hit," Pearson, U. Fla. L. Rev., at 488, the zone of danger test limits recovery for emotional injury to those plaintiffs who sustain a physical impact as a result
6 See, e. g., Spade v. Lynn & B. R. Co., 168 Mass. 285, 47 N. E. 88 (1897); Mitchell v. Rochester R. Co., 151 N. Y. 107, 45 N. E. 354 (1896); Ewing v. Pittsburgh, C., C. & St. L. R. Co., 147 Pa. 40, 23 A. 340 (1892).
7 See OB-GYN Assocs. of Albany v. Littleton, 259 Ga. 663, 386 S. E. 2d 146 (1989); Shuamber v. Henderson, 579 N. E. 2d 452 (Ind. 1991); Anderson v. Scheffler, 242 Kan. 857, 752 P. 2d 667 (1988); Deutsch v. Shein, 597 S. W. 2d 141 (Ky. 1980); Hammond v. Central Lane Communications Center, 312 Ore. 17, 816 P. 2d 593 (1991).
8 See, e. g., Simone v. Rhode Island Co., 28 R. I. 186, 66 A. 202 (1907); Kimberly v. Howland, 143 N. C. 398, 55 S. E. 778 (1906); Gulf, C. & S. F. R. Co. v. Hayter, 93 Tex. 239, 54 S. W. 944 (1900); Mack v. South-Bound R. Co., 52 S. C. 323, 29 S. E. 905 (1898); Purcell v. St. Paul City R. Co., 48 Minn. 134, 50 N. W. 1034 (1892). See also Pankopf v. Hinkley, 141 Wis. 146, 123 N. W. 625 (1909); Stewart v. Arkansas Southern R. Co., 112 La. 764, 36 So. 676 (1904); Watson v. Dilts, 116 Iowa 249, 89 N. W. 1068 (1902).
547
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