This is the second part of our FELA Railroad Injury Cases series, discussing some of our previous case histories and results our FELA lawyers were able to retain for injured railroad workers. Click the links to read FELA Railroad Injury Cases, Part I and FELA Railroad Injury Cases, Part III.
Railroad Derailment Injuries (To Crew And Third Parties)
Our railroad injury law firm has handled a number of serious derailment cases in which freight trains derailed and toxic substances escaped throughout the Eastern United States, including in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and other states. Derailments can be caused by head-on collisions between freight trains or passenger trains, and we have handled this type of case, which is a very challenging form of railroad injury claim. Often, if two freight trains of the same railroad, like Norfolk Southern, CSX, or Conrail trains, collide, it is evident that someone has to be negligent for two trains of the same railroad to arrive on the same track head-on.
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Figuring out who the responsible party is involves understanding significant railroad cases because a dispatcher error can cause a head-on collision or a crew error (human factors). First, we will obtain the audio dispatch tapes showing the crew’s communications with the dispatcher controlling the area. Secondly, there are electronic switches in certain areas that a dispatcher can control, meaning that the train crew doesn’t even have to throw that switch. These types of electronic switching records can be obtained.
We have also written documentation of who threw which switches when can be obtained in this type of injury case. If the derailment involves a toxic chemical spill, there are federal regulations that govern safe railroad transport of toxic chemicals, for example, and these must be looked at along with the hazardous or radioactive transportation regulations. Our firm handled cases involving a CSX head-on collision in Virginia, our firm has handled one or more derailments causing fires in North Carolina, and our firm handled cases arising from Norfolk Southern’s notorious Graniteville, South Carolina toxic spill of chlorine that caused a town to be evacuated, and caused several deaths, and many injured.
Railroad Crossing Cases With Injuries (Crewmembers, Caused Third Parties, Car Drivers)
There are many forms of railroad, vehicle railroad crossing injury cases. Many cases involve a truck or tractor-trailer that collides with the railroad train at a railroad crossing over a highway or even over a private industrial siding area. In these types of railroad crossing collisions, there are several factors analyzed as to negligence and fault:
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- Did lights and gates control the railroad crossing?
- Were there audible sounds of ringing on the lights or gates?
- Was there anything besides a crossbuck at the railroad crossing?
- Was the train horn blowing in a timely manner?
- Was there something blocking the motorist’s vision, such as vegetation, bushes, or trees, so that the train could not be seen until the last moment?
- Were two trains operating in two different directions at the time of the collision?
Needless to say, railroad crossing crashes that cause injuries or deaths are very complicated and challenging, but our firm has successfully represented not only crewmembers of the railroads involving locomotive engineers, brakemen, and conductors on the trains but in certain cases, our lawyers have represented the motorist or the passenger particularly if there was a long-standing knowledge on the railroad that lights and gates were required at the crossing to make it safe.
We will check the switch inspection and electronic crossing control records leading to the crossing that might control the light, gate, or train movement before it gets to the crossing. We will check the FRA records of whether there were prior accidents at a crossing, and of course, we will canvass all witnesses or persons who may have been eyewitnesses or who may have heard whether the train crew blew its whistle in a timely fashion before it approached the crossing as well. Each locomotive engine, whether a freight train engine or a passenger train engine, is now equipped with a black box called an event recorder.
The event recorder will record speed, braking motion of the engine, throttle position of the locomotive engine, when the horn or bell was sounded or when it was sounding, and it is critical information in any railroad crossing accident whether we are representing the crewmembers or in some cases the motorist. Our firm has handled numerous railroad crossing cases where we represented the crewmembers who suffered injuries at a crossing accident, and we have represented persons in Virginia and North Carolina who were in vehicles and suffered injuries at a railroad crossing where we felt that the railroad failed to supply lights or gates or other active warning devices.
Do You Understand Your Rights?
No matter what type of illness or injury you sustained, experience is essential when dealing with a FELA claim. As soon as you report your work-related injury, the rail company will assign an entire faction of attorneys and claims people whose job it is to work against you and your claim every step of the way. They are highly skilled, and well-trained, and will stop at nothing to minimize or deny any recovery sought by an injured railroader.
Contact Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp to schedule a free consultation and find out how we can help. Our attorneys are dedicated to getting our clients and their families the financial compensation they deserve