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Train Accident Lawyers

As a catastrophic injury lawyer can attest, train accidents and fatalities occur more often than many people realize. In fact, in the past ten years, there have been more than 110,000 train accidents nationwide, causing almost 7,000 deaths. Many of these crashes were preventable if the proper measures had been exercised.

While overall the train system across the country is considered to be safe, accidents do happen. Often, we hear of cars that have crossed onto tracks and have been struck by an oncoming train. If that driver did not exercise prudent behavior at the crossing and was subsequently impacted by a train, it is possible that passengers in the railcar may also suffer serious injuries or death.

What are your options if a relative or family member has been hurt or killed in a train collision? Garnering legal advice is one of your primary priorities. Having the expertise of a catastrophic injury lawyer in Jersey City, NJ who is well versed in this type of this complex litigation is invaluable.

Individuals or groups of people who are unfortunately injured in a train accident may have limited time to file their claims. Certain quasi-government entities have certain immunities and need to be placed on notice as early as possible. They also have limitations on liability and for some passenger trains a general cap of 200 million dollars for all that are injured in the same accident, which will be discussed a little further down the page.

There are three primary reasons for Train Accident Deaths and Injuries:

  1.  Machine Error
  2.  Human Error
  3.  Environmental

Machine error refers to some sort of mechanical error or computer operational error with the equipment. For example, the breaks on the train may fail, the instruments may not show the proper speed the train is traveling, etc. Oftentimes this blends into human error and the train negligence and mechanical error may spring from a human failure to routinely inspect for issues and promptly resolve them.

Human Train Operator or Train Conductor error in addition to failure to inspect, may include issues like speeding, pulling away from the station too soon, not paying attention to the tracks, distraction, and a variety of other ways that humans fail when they are doing their job. Most of the human error is inexcusable. People’s lives are at stake and most train fatalities and serious injuries are avoidable.

Environmental train accidents are from the conditions outside the influence of the first two facts, but are intertwined as the conditions should dictate more diligence in human action. For example, if you’re driving your car or truck slower because of snow, the weather similarly impacts the speed the train may safely travel.

The $200,000,000 cap while hailed by some is a very limiting factor, making victims of mass tragedies such as the May 2015 Amtrak derailment having to compete against each other for a limited pool of funds. For example, as of this writing, there are hundreds of people injured with at least 8 dead from the train accident. Assuming that there are dozens of people who may now have some degree of paralysis or some life altering event, the limited pool may not be sufficient to fairly compensate all the train accident victims.

We handle cases on behalf of train accident victims and have our number 1 (877) 561-0000 available 24/7 to field your questions.

Cars Crossing onto the Tracks

We hear about these incidents over and over again in the media: a vehicle inexplicably drives onto train tracks and then is slammed into by an oncoming train. Not only do occupants in the vehicle suffer, but, frequently, passengers on the train suffer serious injury and death, too.

According to national statistics, there is a person or vehicle hit by a train every 115 minutes in this country. Some of the types of train accidents or incidents that may occur and that a catastrophic injury lawyer from our firm has handled include the following situations:

  • Train to train crash
  • Train to vehicle crash
  • Train to person crash
  • Train derailment

Train to car collisions are the most common type of train accident and the deadliest for motorists. In fact, a motorist is 20 times more likely to die in a crash with a train than they are in collisions involving another motor vehicle.

When approaching a railroad crossing, many drivers continue to make the mistake of believing that an incoming train will be able to stop in time if their vehicles is crossing the tracks and gets stuck or stalls. However, this just is not the case. The truth is, it can take a train full of passengers or cargo more than one mile to come to a complete stop once the operator hits the brakes.

The federal government data concludes that most fatal train crashes occur at railroad crossings, causing more than 600 deaths each year and leaving another 2,500 victims injured. Even more alarming, approximately 75 percent of these crashes happen during daytime hours.

Our experienced attorneys are ready to fight for you. Contact us today for a free consultation. Call us Toll Free 1 (877) 561-0000 or use our online form.