Train-Pedestrian Accident—when should you hire a train accident attorney?

If you're wondering if you have a train accident case, train accident attorney Barry G. Doyle shares some instances when a victim may have an actionable claim.

Victim Is Sued By Bystander In Fatal Metra Train Accident In Edgebrook

In this unusual personal injury lawsuit the recently deceased victim is being sued by a bystander after a fatal Metra train accident in Edgebrook.

Pickup Truck Slammed by Freight Train in Riverdale

A Chicago man is lucky to be alive after his pickup truck was hit by a freight train in suburban Riverdale. The serious crash occurred around 7 a.m. on Friday morning as motorists attempted to navigate snow-covered streets during the morning rush hour.

Pedestrian Killed By Train in Suburban Lombard

The pedestrian who was hit by a train on Monday has died, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. The accident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday morning near Lombard, a suburb of Chicago.

CTA Train Accident Injures Two in Northwest Chicago

Two people suffered personal injuries on Sunday when a passenger train hit a car and then derailed on the Northwest Side of Chicago. The train was operated by the Chicago Transit Authority and was traveling on the Brown Line.

Metra Train Hits Teenage Boy Near Nagle Avenue

A teenage boy suffered serious personal injuries on Tuesday when he was hit by a Metra train while attempting to cross the train tracks. The pedestrian accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.

Chicago Pedestrian Hit and Killed by Metra Train

A middle-aged woman died last Friday night after she was hit by a train. The victim was hit shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday night. The accident occurred just before the train pulled into the Mount Prospect station, near William Street and Northwest Highway.

Family of Victim in Chicago Train Accident Files Lawsuit

Two train operators are facing a lawsuit from the family of a woman killed when a train hit her SUV. The victim’s family filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court on Wednesday. Both the Illinois Central Railroad Co. and Wisconsin Central Ltd. were named in the lawsuit.

Train Collides with Truck at Dangerous Chicago Intersection

An intersection on Chicago’s Northwest Side that has become notorious as the site for many accidents is in the news again. A semi-truck became stuck on the train tracks and was hit by a train at the intersection of Nagle Avenue and Northwest Highway.

Chicago Woman Killed in Train Accident

A Chicago woman died on Sunday after she was struck by a train on the city’s Northwest side. The 45-year-old woman was walking across a railroad bridge when she was hit by a train operated by Amtrak. The train accident occurred shortly after noon on Sunday afternoon.

La Grange Woman Killed in Train Accident

A 43-year-old woman died on Monday after she was hit by a train in La Grange. The victim purposefully walked into the path of the Amtrak train. The accident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon.

Woman Killed in Bartlett Train Accident

A woman was killed Monday morning when she was hit by a Metra train in Bartlett, Illinois. 41-year-old woman, a resident of Steamwood, died several hours after the train collision. The train accident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday near South Prospect Road.

Report issued in train derailment

A report issued by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture points to a number of causes of last summer's train derailment at the Louisville Zoo.  Among the causes cited were inadequate operator training, poor maintenance of the train, and excessive speed of the train.  The three deficiencies resulted in the train derailment which injured several.

Any operator of a train is considered a common carrier under the law.  That means that they have a legal duty to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of its passengers.  This requires at a minimum that the train and its components parts be properly maintained in safe condition, that the train's crew be properly trained, and that they follow safe operating procedures.

There was a failure by the zoo on all of these points, resulting in the train derailment and the injuries to the train's passengers.

Railroad knew tracks washed out before Rockford derailment

In following the story on the Rockford train derailment from this summer, the NBC affiliate in Rockford obtained the tapes from the 911 dispatch center before and after the derailment.  These tapes clearly showed that the City of Rockford, Union Pacific, and Canadian National all knew that the tracks had washed out in heavy rains before the train hauling cars with ethanol derailed, setting off a deadly fire.  Nonetheless, it appears that no one notified the train crew of the hazard ahead.

The fact that these companies had actual notice of the dangerous condition leaves them in a vulnerable position in the civil suits that have been filed in the wake of the disaster.  Besides the amount of the damages, the key issue ahead is going to be how the fault is allocated between the railroads.  Many times, the inclination of defendants to place the blame on one another leads the case to trial because no one wants to take the lead and accept the lion's share of the responsibility for the accident.

Court finds BNSF committed misconduct in railroad crossing wrongful death case

A Minnesota trial court judge has found that BNSF committed misconduct in connection with its investigation of a wrongful death suit arising from a railroad grade crossing train accident in which one of its locomotives hit a car with four young people in it, killing all of them.  The misconduct involved BNSF's failure to preserve electgronic data relating to the operation of the train and the crossing signals.  The trial judge referred to the breadth of the railroad's misconduct as "staggering".  The families of the four victims were awarded a total of $26 million, including more than $4 million in punitive damages.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, the thing I recommend to anyone who has been involved in an accident with a defendant that has exclusive control over the injury causing devices is that they promptly hire well-qualified counsel.  Attorneys who are familiar with this type of litigation know how to move quickly to investigate the accident and preserve key pieces of evidence and not rely upon a future adversary in litigation to do the right thing and preserve evidence that points to their guilt.  Hard-won experience has taught that this is often not the case.

Multiple injuries in Boston commuter train accident

Last week in Boston, several commuters were injured when their commuter train hit a stopping bumper at about 5 miles per hour, causing several commuters to fall and be injured.  The results of the preliminary investigation is that the accident was caused by the engineer misjudging his stopping distance to the bumper, resulting in the commuter train accident.

Operators of commuter trains, such as Metra or the CTA in Chicago, are considered common carriers with regard to their passengers.  This means that they must exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of their passengers.  Operator errors such as this will normally result in a finding of liability against the railroad. 

FRA releases study on causes of train accidents

The FRA released a study showing the top causes of train accidents for the months of January through May of this year.  There were three leading causes cited:

• Track defects leading to train accidents - in essence, this refers to poor track maintenance, something that is in the control of the the railroads.  Railroads must have enough track inspectors and repair crews available to make sure that tracks are maintained in safe condition.
• Mechanical defects leading to train accidents - this refers to defects in signals and other railroad equipment.  This is also a factor within the control of the railroad.
• Human factors leading to train accidents - there are two aspects to this - inadequate training and fatigue.  We have written how fatigued truck drivers cause accidents, and the same holds true for train crews.  The industry is fighting changes in regulations which would further limit hours of service by rail crews.

In light of the findings that our firm made in its review of the causes of Chicago train accidents, these results are hardly surprising.

The study confirms that virtually all of the factors that result in train accidents are subject to control by the railroads.  When an Illinois train accident occurs, the services of an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer can help identify the causes of the train accident, fashion a legal theory of liability against the railroad, and develop evidence to help reach a successful conclusion to the personal injury or wrongful death suit.

FRA considering testing train personnel for sleep apnea

The FRA is considering a regulation which would require testing for sleep apnea for all train operations personnel.  Sleep apnea is a condition where a person's airway become obstructed during sleep, usually by soft tissues in the nasal passage, mouth, and/or neck.  This results in interruptions in sleep and poor oxygen intake during sleep, with the net result being that the sleep apnea sufferer experiences poor quality sleep and feels fatigued even after a full night' rest.

The reason that the FRA is concerned about the effects of sleep apnea on train operations personnel is that fatigue has been a factor in many serious transportation related accident, including train accidents.  In this blog, we have also discussed how sleep apnea and fatigue causes trucking accidents.  Tired truck drivers have caused many accidents, and as a result, in an effort to minimize truck accidents, drivers must limit the number of hours that they are behind the wheel and keep track of their duty hours in a log book.

Since the relationship between fatigue and mass transit accidents is clear, and it is well known that untreated sleep apnea causes fatigue, testing for this condition is a smart safety idea.

Railroad pays witnesses to try to derail jury verdict

I have some follow-up on a earlier blog post I wrote regarding a railroad crossing wrongful death verdict  in which BNSF was being accused of misconduct.  In short, a jury verdict was returned against the the railroad and in favor of the families of some teenagers who were killed in a railroad crossing accident.

After the verdict was returned, the lawyers for the families sought sanctions against the railroad, claiming that the railroad had altered data downloaded from the crossing gate in the hours that followed the crash.

The railroad is now trying to present new witnesses to the crash, some of whom have received "rewards" for their testimony as much as $10,000.  None of these witnesses testified at trial.

There are a few points to make regarding this railroad accident:

1.  The courts regard a jury trial as an enormous investment of society's resources to resolve a dispute, and rarely disturb jury verdicts.  Moreover, they are even more reluctant to disturb a jury verdict based on evidence that was not presented at the time of trial.  Much of the time that personal injury lawyers spend working on a case before trial is spent doing investigation work like trying to find witnesses to accidents, and if the railroad could not find them before the trial, the court is not likely to disturb the verdict based on this "new" testimony.

2.  It is not clear from the news story how the railroad came up with these witnesses, but the trial has garnered extensive publicity, and the credibility of the witnesses who are being paid the reward is pretty suspect. 

3.  Railroads respond very quickly to any accident, especially railroad crossing accidents.  You can be sure that within hours if not minutes of the train crash that the railroads had investigators and claims agents all over the scene.  If there were witnesses to be had, the railroad probably would have found them.  The fact that these people are coming forward later in return for a reward from the railroad begs all kinds of questions.  One reason that people need to move quickly to hire an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer in the wake on an accident such as this is to put themselves on as equal ground as possible as the railroad, trucking company, or construction company in documenting the scene and locating witnesses.

Rockford train derailment possibly caused due to high water

The Rockford train derailment and fire last Friday may have been due to high water caused by a heavy rainfall.  National Transportation Safety Board Investigators are on scene, but their ability to investigate the scene is limited by still-burning tank cars that were carrying highly flammable and explosive ethanol.

Most derailments are due to either human error or poor maintenance, and the likelihood is that Canadian National will vigorously defend the lawsuits to come from this train derailment as being an "act of God" or due to circumstances beyond their control.

Nonetheless, there are important questions to be answered in the investigation of this Rockford train accident:

• Was the water actually that high at the time of the derailment, or is the water that is being measured now due to the rain that fell following the derailment plus the water added by fire rescue crews after the derailment occurred?
• When was the track last inspected?  Was there reason for Canadian National to recognize that this section of track was susceptible to being washed out, and is so, was routing a train full of tank cars containing ethanol the safe thing to do in light of the forecasted weather?

The victims of the Rockford train derailment who survived were very seriously injured, in addition to the wrongful death that occurred. These questions deserve vigorous investigation by an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer.

Rockford Canadian National train derailment kills one

Yesterday in Rockford, a Canadian National freight train derailed while hauling several tank cars of highly flammable and explosive ethanol, causing several of the tank cars to catch fire and explode.  One motorist waiting at a railroad crossing near the train derailment was killed when the car was hit with flying railroad ties and burning ethanol.  Three passengers in the car were also severely burned and had to be taken to burn units at area hospitals for further treatment.  The fires were still burning Saturday morning as the explosive properties of the ethanol made it dangerous for firefighters to get too close.

Our firm conducted a study of the causes of several northern Illinois train derailments, and found that the cause of many of the train derailments was the result of either human error or poor track or equipment maintenance.  In either case, the responsibility for safe train operation falls on the railroad, and a train derailment strongly indicates deficiencies in the operation of the train or its equipment.

One of the important things that can be done to help the families of those injured in the Rockford train derailment is to properly document conditions immediately after the accident and to take other steps to preserve crucial evidence to assist in the eventual prosecution of an Illinois wrongful death suit.  Hiring an experienced Illinois personal injury lawyer is a wise step to making sure that crucial evidence is preserved, as railroads have been alleged to manipulated evidence during their post accident investigations.

Lawsuits filed in train derailment at Louisville zoo

A train derailment accident last week at the Louisville Zoo has led to the filing of a lawsuit by several families who were aboard the train when the derailment happened.  The train was going through a gorilla exhibit at the zoo when it tipped over, resulting in injuries to several passengers aboard the train that required hospital care.

The lawsuit alleges that the zoo was negligent in failing to properly maintain the train tracks and that the train operator was operating the train at an excessive speed.

One interesting point from reading the news story is that the accident is being investigated by the state agency that regulates amusement park rides and not the Federal Railroad Administration.  Also, the train operator was only 18 years old.  This all indicates that the train ride was more in the nature of an amusement park ride rather than a true train.  If that is the case, depending on the adequacy of the zoo's insurance coverage, lawyers handling the case would want to start looking at the potential liability of the designer and installer of the train ride, since it appears that defects in the design of the ride played a role in causing the train to derail and tip over.

BNSF accused of misconduct following $20 million wrongful death verdict

After a Minneapolis jury returned a $20 million verdict against BNSF following a train crossing accident that claimed the lives of four young people, the lawyers for the families are pursuing sanctions against the railroad claiming that the railroad was guilty of misconduct. 

The theory of the defense had been that the young people drove around lowered arms on the gates at the crossing and that this led to the train crash.  Immediately following the railroad crossing accident, employees of the railroad came to the crossing and downloaded data off the controls for the crossing gates.  That information was not provided promptly to the police, and the railroad claimed in court that it supported their claim that the crossing arms were down.  The families claimed that the data was incomplete and/or altered,a nd the jury apparently agreed, assessing 90% of the blame for the train crash to the railroad.  With the jury verdict in their favor, the family is now seeking sanctions against the railroad for misconduct.

Whether BNSF is in fact guilty of misconduct is something that I cannot tell from this news story alone.  The teaching point to take away from this news story is that you should not count on potential defendants in a catastrophic accident to preserve records and evidence that will support your case. 

There are certain kinds of accidents, serious ones in particular, which bring out company and insurance investigators, and they will get first access to critical evidence.  This happens especially in nursing home cases, trucking accidents, railroad accidents, and construction accidents.  If you do not promptly hire experienced personal injury lawyers immediately following a catastrophic accident, you are put in the position of having to rely on your eventual adversary to preserve evidence that will help you.  Not a wise course of action.

After railroad crossing wrongful death verdict, railroad accused of misconduct

Last June, a Minnesota jury found against BNSF railroad and in favor of four young men and women who were killed when the car they were riding in were struck by a train at a railroad crossing.  The families were awarded $6 million each.

The families claimed that that signals at the crossing were not operating at the time of the accident, while the railroad claimed that the drover of the car drove around the gates at the crossing.  The jury obviously rejected the railroad's theory.

Immediately following the accident, claims agents and investigators from the railroad inspected the crossing and downloaded data off the event data recorder from the train and signals.  The lawyers for the estate claims that the data was lost and/or manipulated.  They further claim that the railroad failed to produce evidence and withheld other information that would have assisted in the prosecution of the case.  They are seeking sanctions for the railroad's alleged misconduct.

Without trying to say whether the railroad did the things it is accused of (and to be fair, they deny doing anything wrong), cases like this underline the reason why it is important to hire an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer after an accident such as this.  When there is a serious accident involving a large corporate defendant, such as a construction company, railroad, hospital, trucking company, or nursing home, one of the first things that they do is move in aggressively to investigate the circumstances of the accident and to secure evidence of what happened.  Hiring a lawyer to protect your interests as soon as possible after this kind of occurrence is key to making sure that your case is not damaged by the kind of misconduct that is alleged to have occurred in this case.

NTSB faults Amtrak and engineer in 2007 Chicago train crash

The NTSB recently released its report regarding the causes of the November, 2007 Amtrak crash in Chicago.  The train which was traveling from Grand Rapids to Chicago with passenger cars filled with Christmas shoppers ran into a freight train which occupied the track in front of it.  71 passengers were injrued in the crash.  The NTSB concluded that the engineer misread a signal and proceeded down the occupied track at a speed approximately 25 miles in excess of that permitted under the signals then in force.

There were two main areas of fault for this train crash:

• The engineer failed to recognize what speeds the signals required;
• Amtrak failed to properly train the engineer.

Because railroads are common carriers, they have an obligation to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of its passengers.  These shortcomings found by the NTSB will provide a strong basuis for establishing the liability of Amtrak for this train crash.