New Jersey is a transportation hub and densely populated. Many New Jersey residents commute to northern New Jersey and New York City daily via railroad. New Jersey has one of the highest uses of railroads for transportation in the country. That means it also has one of the nation’s highest railroad accident rates.
Railroad Accidents
Unlike a motor vehicle accident, which may injure or kill several people, a train accident can cause hundreds of serious injuries. The most common types of railroad accidents include: Poor track maintenance, inadequately trained conductors, dilapidated platforms and stations and unrestrained crime can cause serious injuries to passengers and,
- Car and train collisions –the most frequent type of railroad accident, a collision between a giant train and an automobile which generally kills the car’s occupants and can seriously hurt train passengers
- Crossing and track collisions – the train may hit something other than a motor vehicle at a crossing or on the tracks. That may include a person or a large object or piece of equipment in the crossing or on the track
- Derailment – the train leaving the tracks leads to frequent accidents
- Collision between trains – the worst-case scenario involving a collision between two trains
Railroad accidents can often be catastrophic. Survivors often suffer from permanent injuries and are not able to continue working. Medical bills can be astronomic and therapy and rehabilitation may continue for years. Injuries resulting from train accidents include:
- Loss of limbs
- Multiple fractures
- Paralysis
- Severe burns
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury
These devastating injuries affect the plaintiff and their family for the rest of their lives.
CLAIMS INVOLVING RAILROAD ACCIDENTS
When an automobile hits a stationary object, the occupants continue moving at the rate of speed the car was travelling. The same concept applies in a train accident, except passengers do not have the benefit of seat belts and airbags to prevent severe injuries when:
- The train brakes suddenly
- The train derails
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- The train hits an obstruction on the tracks
- An object in a luggage rack falls
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Because many trains are not equipped with the same safety accessories as cars and trucks, such as seat belts or airbags, victims of train crashes often find themselves suffering much more severe injuries.
INJURIES ON RAILROAD STATIONS AND PLATFORMS
The New Jersey municipalities and train companies are responsible for maintaining safe conditions on their platforms and in their stations and to implement measures that prevent passengers from:
- Being pushed or falling onto the tracks
- Tumbling down broken stairs
- Tripping over uneven walkways
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- Being a victim of an attack while in dimly lit, unpatrolled area
- Being hit by an approaching train at a station that lacks functioning warning bells and crossing gates
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It is also the responsibility of those municipalities to provide sufficient warnings about potentially hazardous station and platform conditions.
SUING NJ TRANSIT AND REGIONAL TRAIN SYSTEMS
Train accident claims involve multi-faceted issues of law. Several government agencies and private corporations may be named as parties in a lawsuit. Our law firm immediately takes the required steps to sue federal, state and local governments — including NJ TRANSIT — and we aggressively pursue the insurance companies of the corporate policyholders.
Our personal injury lawyers conduct a thorough investigation of your accident, keeping much of the preparation in-house to save costs and expedite the settlement or trial.
201-470-4181
