Conductor Awarded $1.75M for Injuries Suffered in Union Pacific Derailment Caused by Truck Crash

4/27/2011
Randy Appleton
Comments (0)

Conductor Awarded $1.75M for Injuries Suffered in Union Pacific Derailment Caused by Truck Crash

A Union Pacific conductor who suffered career-ending herniated lower disc injuries when the Union Pacific freight train he was crewing derailed after colliding with a tanker truck south of Minco, Oklahoma (OK) has been awarded $1.75 million to cover his medical treatment expenses and lost wages. The accident in which the man became disabled occurred in March 2009 and was caused by the driver of the tractor-trailer rig, who drove onto the tracks in front of the approaching train after blacking out behind the wheel. The at-fault driver had undiagnosed and untreated heart disease.

View Larger Map

I learned of this jury award for the injured rail employee the day after my law firm colleague and fellow FELA attorney Rick Shapiro blogged about a strikingly similar truck-train crash and derailment accident near New Orleans. In that wreck, the Amtrak Crescent passenger train struck a flatbed vehicle transporter, leading to injuries for conductors and an engineer, two passengers and the driver of the truck.

Collisions at railroad crossings occurred 2,009 times during 2010 and 1,925 times during 2009. Those crashes between trains, cars, trucks, motorcycles and pedestrians resulted in about 1,500 deaths and nearly 15,000 injuries to drivers, vehicle and train passengers, people on foot and rail workers. In short, intersections between tracks and roads and highways are dangerous places. Approaching trains must be given right of way in or order to prevent casualties and loss of life.

EJL

Category: Railroad Injury/FELA

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and who have handled hundreds of railroad worker injury and general railroad injury cases. Please take a few moments to review our railroad injury case results involving FELA and other rail employee protection laws.

We serve every area of North Carolina, including the Outer Banks, Nags Head and the western mountains, as well as all the cities and counties in between. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and we have been named one of the best Best Injury Law Firms in North Carolina for personal injury law since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, Rick and Jim have been listed in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and our firm has the highest rating of AV from national lawyer ranking organization Martindale-Hubbell. That means we have a reputation for demonstrating preeminent legal skill.

We would like to send you one of our free reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including the Dos and Don'ts When Injured at a Railroad: A Railroad Worker's FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Agents Won't Tell You (But You Must Know).

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer a free, initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call promptly.

Elizabeth City, NC Personal Injury Attorneys
North Carolina (NC) Personal Injury Lawyers
Specializing in North Carolina Wrongful Death & Injury Law

There are no comments.

Search Our Site

Get help Now!

Practice Areas

Conductor Awarded $1.75M for Injuries Suffered in Union Pacific Derailment Caused by Truck Crash

Post a comment