Bloomington Personal Injury Lawyer - Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)

Why Does it Take Tragedy to Force a Change?

Fred Schultz — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:42:06 GMT

It took the death of a six-year-old boy, and a great-grandmother's determination to force long-overdue safety changes in three Greene County railroad crossings.

The boy's great-grandmother wrote a letter to the Indiana Department of Transportation after her great-grandson died while riding in a car with his parents. Their car came upon a railroad crossing that was very narrow, had no warning lights or cross-bucks, was elevated, and surrounded by trees. In addition, the railroad tracks had a bend in them just before the crossing, making it even more difficult to spot the oncoming train.

“I would like to state my plea for crossing signals to be installed at county roads 400 North and 500 North in Greene County, Indiana,” she wrote. “I will start by saying I am Theodora Harmon, the great-grandmother of Christopher Perez, who was killed Feb. 15 when the car he was riding in was hit by a train on 400 North.”

We often think of railroad crossings that have the cross-bucks that come down, the loud bell, and the lights that flash as the train approaches. Often, we can even see the train coming down the tracks for over a mile. However, there are hundreds of thousands of railroad crossings across America that have none of these features. To make things worse, the tracks are often hidden by trees, and the crossing is elevated three to five feet into the air making it even more difficult for drivers to see whether or not a train is coming. This unfortunate combination appears to be what lead to the tragedy that happened at this particular crossing.

Part of the problem with making needed safety changes at railroad crossings is the fact that they are a mish-mashed hybrid of private, local, state, and federal property. Usually, the railroad owns the property that the railroad track runs along. However, control of the crossings depends on whether it is a county road or state highway. Also, state and federal agencies have authority over railroad crossings because of their ability to regulate transportation and commerce. The railroads either won't - or can't - make the safety improvements at dangerous intersections, because changes to county or state roads fall under the jurisdiction of local goverment. Meanwhile, local and state governments feel limited in improvements they can make because of budget issues.

INDOT communications director Valerie Cockrum said the state agency looks at such crossings every year and uses a formula that measures the cost and benefit ratio of suggested improvements. “Safety, and accident history, are a great consideration in that,” she said. “And that was a big factor at those crossings in Greene County.”

According to INDOT, the State of Indiana is upgrading between 30 to 35 railroad crossings a year. That sounds good, except that when you consider that Indiana has over 6,000 railroad crossings, the fifth highest of any state in the U.S.

Ideally, every dangerous crossing in Indiana will be fixed immediately. Unfortunately, though, that's not going to happen. In the mean time, it is critically important for all of us to remember that even a train can be hidden by elevated crossings, bends in the railroad tracks, trees lining the tracks, and no warning signs.

If you want to contact someone at INDOT about a railroad crossing near you, start with:

Mike Riley, Manager
INDOT Rail Office
100 N. Senate Avenue, Rm N808
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2216

www.in.gov/indot

(The INDOT website did not give a phone number for this office).

In addition to INDOT, The Federal Railroad Aministration, or FRA, is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation and works to increase safety at dangerous crossings. The FRA has eight regional offices throughout the U.S. Part of their responsibility is to inspect dangerous railroad crossings.

If you believe there is a dangerous crossing near you, the FRA can be contacted at:

Federal Railroad Administration
RRS-13 Mail Stop 25
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202)493-6244
Fax: (202)493-6309

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz

Air Rescue Helicopter Crash a Real Tragedy

Fred Schultz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:12:30 GMT

It was with great sadness that I read about the air rescue helicopter crash that occurred this week. Apparently, one of the main rotors flew off while the helicopter was in flight, causing it to crash into a field with no survivors.

“The rotor blades were separated and came to rest about 200 yards away,” as did the rotor mast, Knudson said. “We have witness reports reporting the same thing.”
Templeton said investigators found the rotor blades 320 yards from the rest of the wreckage.

Any incident like this is tragic, but this seems even more so given the lifesaving work that these emergency personnel do. I've represented dozens of people over the years whose lives have been saved by these Air Evac crews. Their ability to arrive so quickly at the scene of major collisions and stabilize severely injured people, and transport them to hospitals within minutes is nothing short of incredible. It takes a special kind of person to do this job, too, because of the severity of the injuries they deal with every day.

Any crash involving an airplane or helicopter is generally investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board in order to try and determine its cause, and hopefully prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future. The NTSB will examine the flight logs, maintenance record, and other documentation involving the operation and maintenance of the helicopter, as well as thoroughly inspect the wreckage to see if they can identify the piece or pieces of the helicopter that obviously failed.

Our hearts go out to the families of the crew members, as well as their co-workers.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz

Recent Bus Crashes Very Troubling

Fred Schultz — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:37:38 GMT

There have been a recent string of bus crashes on our nation's highways causing serious injuries and a number of deaths that are very troubling. Most recently, twenty people were injured when a bus veered off the road south of Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday night. According to reports, the bus was the only vehicle involved in the crash.

Police found tire tread on the roadway and are looking into the possibility that tire failure may have caused the wreck.

At this point, it would be pure speculation to try and lay blame for the accident. Defective or worn out tires may have been a cause, or the fault could be as simple as a sleepy bus driver.

Obviously, the passengers on a commercial bus rely on the bus driver and the bus company to provide for their safety. There is little, if anything, that a passenger on a bus can do to protect themselves when a bus driver falls asleep, or the bus company fails to properly maintain the tires on the bus. In fact, because passengers are completely at the mercy of the bus company or other Charter company, Indiana law has an exception to the usual system of fault in civil cases called the "common carrier exception."

In normal accident situations, an Indiana judge or jury is asked to compare the fault of the two parties involved. They are free to put 100% fault on one party and zero fault on the other, or any combination thereof. However, when dealing with businesses that transport people from one place to another, such as bus charters or airlines, the "common carrier exception" applies and there is "strict liability," meaning that the charter company can be found to be completely responsible for the injury or harm to its passengers.

While some might think it is unfair to impose such a duty on a bus company or other transport in the business of transporting passengers, the Indiana Supreme Court has long held, "The imposition of liability under the common carrier exception is premised on the control and autonomy surrendered by the passenger to the carrier for the period of accommodation." Stropes v. Heritage House Children's Center, Inc., 547 N.E.2d 244, 252 (Ind. 1989). In other words, the passengers have paid for safe passage and it is the charter company's duty to deliver a safe passage. Essentially, Indiana law holds that the transport company offered to take passengers from point A to Point B in exchange for a certain monetary fair charged by the company. Implicit in that deal is that the company transport the passengers safely.

If you think about it, this just makes sense. It is good public policy to put the responsibility for passenger safety in the hands of the company that is transporting the passenger. After all, the passenger isn't the one driving the bus or flying the airplane. Hopefully, this ensures that the bus company, or other charter company, keeps the vehicle in good mechanical condition, and makes sure that the driver, captain, or pilot is well qualified and properly trained. Bottom line, passenger safety is that important. The "Common Carrier Exception" in Indiana is good public policy because it encourages safe passage for the thousands of Hoosiers every year who pay to have a company transport them somewhere, be it a bus, an airplane, or other means of transportation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz

One Year Anniversary of Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Fred Schultz — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:11:05 GMT

It's hard to believe, but it has been one year since the I-35 bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed. I remember getting home from work and turning on the TV, and seeing the horrific sight of the broken concrete, pieces of steel, smoke and cars involved in the wreckage. We all take for granted that the roads, highways and bridges that we travel with our families every day are safe. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Across the United States, there are about 600,000 bridges. The Federal Highway Administration reported in 2006 that one quarter of the nation's bridges were at risk. The American Society for Civil Engineers said in 2006 that it would cost nearly $10 billion every year for the next two decades to fix them.

Here in Indiana, there are thousands of bridges that are not currently meeting federal safety standards. According to an online CNN article, of the 18,408 bridges in the State of Indiana, 4,019 have been found to be deficient in some fashion. That is 22% of all of our state's bridges. Unbelievably, one in every five bridges that we all travel across in Indiana do not meet current safety standards! This is an unfortunate by-product of misplaced priorities at the federal, state, and local level. Our elected officials are either spending our tax dollars on things less important, are too timid in collecting necessary taxes, or both. Literally, we build stadiums while our bridges crumble.

In the case of the Minnesota bridge collapse, the I-35 bridge had apparently been inspected and found to be deficient for years.

CNN has learned that bridge was rated "structurally deficient" 23 years ago, in 1985, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation confirmed it was rated "structurally deficient" again in 2007, just days after the Minneapolis bridge collapsed.

There are remedies under Indiana law for a person who is severely injured due to the negligent design or maintenance of roads or bridges. A person can be bring a claim against the governmental entity (state, city or county government) who was responsible for the proper design or upkeep of a road or bridge. However, strict "tort claim notice" requirements are involved, meaning that the applicable state or local governmental entity is entitled to receive a special notice of the claim well in advance of the normal Statute of Limitations. Also, these claims are very technical in nature and require expert engineering testimony to support exactly what the defective condition was and how it contributed to the accident. There are also statutory-imposed caps, or limits, on the amount an injured person can receive in Indiana against a state or local governmental entity.

Let's all hope that this terrible tragedy serves as a wake-up call and that our government officials begin to put the safety of the public as the first priority.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz