Baby in stroller dragged by CTA el train

A young mother had a terrible scare last night on the north side of the City as she tried to board a CTA el train at the Morse el stop.  She was pushing her baby in its stroller onto the el train car when the doors closed.  The train pulled out of the station with the stroller trapped in inside.  It eventually fell off the side of the train car and onto the tracks.  Fortunately, the child was not seriously injured due to the CTA el train accident.

The CTA is a common carrier, and as such, owes a legal duty to its passengers to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of its passengers.  This duty runs from the time that they are boarding the train or bus up until the time that they reach a place of safety after getting off.  Given that the stroller was trapped inside the door, this child was owed that highest degree of care for her safety.

It is also pretty clear that the CTA violated that duty of care.  The train operator is responsible for making sure that the passengers are on the train before closing the doors and making sure that the doors are properly closed before putting the train into motion.  This obviously was not done here.  Also, the CTA at one time had conductors on every train who responsibilities included watching for passengers boarding and getting off the train.  Those positions were eliminated in budgetary cutbacks.  It obviously was possible to do the job of watching for passengers better than they did in this case.  In many ways, this accident was a product of the the budgetary choices made by the CTA.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, one thing that I would do immediately is to notify the CTA of the potential claim in order to make sure that all of the records or videotapes are preserved and retain experts to help observe any inspection or repairs of the el train car in order to help determine how that train was able to leave the station without the doors being securely closed.

Six month notice for cases against the CTA abolished

Governor Pat Quinn recently signed legislation abolishing the 6 month CTA notice requirement.  Before that victims of el train accidents or bus accidents with the CTA were required to file a detailed notice with the CTA within 6 months of the accident.  Failing to comply with the terms of the notice requirement was a grounds for dismissal of the lawsuit, and this resulted in the unfair dismissal of many bus accident and train accident cases against the CTA. 

For people injured on or after June 1, 2009, there is no longer a notice requirement, but they still must comply with the one year statute of limitations.  People injured before June 1, 2009 still must comply with the 6 month CTA notice requirement or risk the dismissal of their bus accident or train accident case against the CTA.

The CTA notice requirement had been an unfair barrier to recovery for many victims of el train accidents and bus accidents with the CTA.  Even as an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, I was always concerned that some minor deficiency in the notice would result in the dismissal of my client's bus accident or el train accident case against the CTA.  The repeal of this unfair statute is an important step in holding the CTA accountable for injuries caused in bus accidents or el train accidents.

Bill proposes changes in CTA notice requirements

Legislation being proposed in Springfield may provide some welcome relief to persons involved in bus accidents with CTA buses or in train accidents on CTA el trains.

Under the current law, anyone injured in any kind of accident with the CTA must provide the CTA with a statutory notice within 6 months of the accident.  Any technical defect in the notice may be grounds for dismissing a lawsuit against the CTA.

The CTA is not under any obligation to advise potential claimants that there are defects in the notice provided to the CTA.  Rather, the CTA can lay in wait and then pounce on the defects in  the notice and have otherwise meritorious claims dismissed, even when the purpose of the notice is achieved -- providing the CTA with notice of the claim and adequate opportunity to investigate the claim.

The proposed legislation would require the CTA to advise potential claimants of defects in the notice.  Such a requirement would encourage people to provide the CTA with even earlier notice in order to take advantage of the opprtunity to cure any defect.  This would further serve the purpose of the notice requirement.

It remains to be seen whether this legislation wil pass or whether the General Assembly wil continue to provide the CTA with its unfair shield against meritorious cases.