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Prepare for a Fight by the Railroad and its Insurer
When a car/train accident occurs, many people assume that the driver of the car is at fault. Overcoming this assumption is where an experienced train wreck lawyer can help you gather all the facts to overcome such preconceptions which might be held by a jury that an insurance company will rely on as soon as negotiations might begin. Proving liability is essential to any type of civil lawsuit. In regard to Texas train accidents, a number of entities may bear responsibility for a wreck. In addition to the possible defendants, others could include a parts manufacturer, a maintenance entity (either of the train, the railroad tracks, or the safety devices in use at the railroad crossing), or a government entity that may be responsible for the safety of the crossing. Furthermore, other drivers may also bear liability should their negligent driving have caused a driver to be hit by a train. Our train accident attorneys conduct a thorough investigation into any train accident so that all liable parties are discovered. When even one liable party isn’t properly identified, an injured victim may not be able to receive full compensation for their injury.
There is truly a wide gap between the ways a car/train accident is handled as opposed to a car/car accident. Railroad companies usually carry very high-dollar policies relative to car insurance policies. This is because the damages caused by a car/train wreck are more violent, and injuries to the victims are more gruesome and cause a high percentage of deaths relative to the frequency of their occurrence. So, it follows that railroad companies have much more to lose. Insurance companies hired by railroads have huge advantages when representing their clients. They have “top gun” teams which include defense attorneys, investigators, and various specialists who will leave no stone unturned in making their case. And since it’s on their right-of-way, they also get the first crack at investigating the scene of the mishap. And these legal teams are highly trained and can find any loophole so their client, the railroad company, will not have to pay. The stakes are extremely high. And their objective is for their client to avoid having to pay a huge claim; which would leave you and your family out in the cold.
Railroad companies have an advantage when it comes to legal representation. They have the money to hire the best. They also know how to use the inconsistencies in federal and state laws to their advantage. It is especially important that you have a local railroad accident injury attorney to represent you when making a claim, or going to court if our opponents don’t see the reason for fairly settling your claim. The money you may have come when you are injured in a car/train accident could be enormous and justified. You may be entitled to receive damages for medical bills, repair bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and possibly much more, especially if the wreck has killed a loved one.
If you or someone with inexperience represents you, you will quickly discover that you’re being opposed by a well-oiled machine that shields a huge railroad conglomerate then you will find out soon enough that with without the expert advice and counsel of an experienced personal injury attorney who knows their game plan, has the ability to investigate, then build a strong case, forcefully negotiate the fair settlement they don’t want to pay, but will when they know they must. The train accident attorneys also have that experience you need to successfully argue your case in court to assure that the negligent railroad will be forced to answer for their collective negligence and by-definition, liability for your damages.
Our Law Firm has decades of experience handling personal injury litigation in railroad accident cases. If you or a loved one has been hit by one of these huge, lumbering trains, our expertise assures that you receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of accident victims in Texas. So if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a train accident anywhere you might have been in Texas, our experienced accident lawyers can help win the best compensation possible for you.
Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation, and begin your road to real recovery and resume your life.
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Passenger Trains
Railroads owe a slightly higher obligation to the passengers who “ride the rails.” For historical reasons, railroads are usually treated as “common” (or public) carriers. This means that although they are not obligated to “ensure” the safety of their passengers, they have what is called an “affirmative obligation” (or duty) to protect them from harm, including injuries that might occur when the train is derailed or collides with a motor vehicle. Now, of course, the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident can affect the determination of whether the railroad was or was not negligent. So it is important to have experienced investigators on your side to ferret out the appropriate facts of your case from that which is not as applicable. And considering that many government entities – from local to federal – will be involved, it will take many months before their “report” on the accident is made public. You don’t have that much time and you must have investigative representatives involved to keep every liable party honest. So there’s another tally mark to add to the “you need to hire an experienced train accident attorney,” list.
Most of you find your way into Denton/Dallas/Fort Worth or Houston several times a year It’s amazing to see their light-rail systems grow in so short a time and marvel at these mass people movers whiz through well-lighted and maintained crossings.
Collectively both cities report some sort of vehicle/train collision four and five times a year that produce serious injuries (or death) to both drivers and rail passengers. And occasionally, trains can hit passengers with equally devastating results. What if this happens to you the next time you visit either metro area?
If you are an injured passenger while riding any DART (Dallas County)/The “T” (Tarrant County)/DCTA (Denton County) or METRO (Harris County) train because of a collision with another vehicle, your claims process can become very complicated, very quickly. The primary reason for this can come from the sheer volume of claims because there might be many others injured. But if you’re the driver of the vehicle, then determining who is liable if you did not cause the wreck may be subject to your attorney’s stringent investigation
All these cases are tricky for a similar reason: you are going against a quasi-government entity, that county’s transit authority. It was established as a municipal enterprise; in essence, a government-backed profit generator, even if it is developed to serve the good of the community. Getting money from them on their turf, using laws written by their legislators is going to require the help of an experienced personal injury attorney who has argued many cases in all of their communities.
But the challenges don’t end there. All of these municipal, profit-making mass transit entities are covered by a commercial insurance policy because the government is not going to back their losses such as injuries and deaths caused by these entities when they are deemed negligent. And this liability underwriter is protected from injured and wrongful death claimants by some of the most aggressive insurance adjusters and defense attorneys in the business. These people are experts in denying claims just like yours. Their singular purpose is to build a case against you so that their defendants (or the county governments) don’t have to pay you a dime.
Protection from your opponents is another reason why you need an experienced Texas train injury attorney to guard your interests, shield you from experienced adjusters who covertly undercut your claim (as they claim to represent your interests) identify all possible sources of compensation in your case and to make sure that your claim has priority when it comes to the transit authority’s insurance policy. By doing all of that, and more, the chances of a negotiated settlement increase many times over. And that means you don’t have to go into their courtroom.
If the accident involves an employee of the railroad, the claim is subject to a federal law called the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). Unlike most workers’ compensation laws, which protect workers who have been hurt at work regardless of fault, FELA requires that the injured worker show that the railroad was negligent. Railroads do have a general obligation to provide workers with a safe place to work, and if the worker is injured because the railroad did not provide him or her with the appropriate tools or equipment, the railroad may be guilty of negligence.
Our Law Firm has decades of experience handling personal injury litigation in railroad accident cases. If you or a loved one has been hit by one of these huge, lumbering trains, our expertise assures that you receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of accident victims in Texas. So if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a train accident anywhere you might have been in Texas, our experienced accident lawyers can help win the best compensation possible for you.
Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation, and begin your road to real recovery and resume your life.
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Some “Wrinkles That Can Affect Your Claim or Case and Why You Need an Experienced Train Injury Lawyer to Look Out for You
If you are a railroad worker who has been injured on-the-job, your claim is subject to a federal law called the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). Unlike most workers’ compensation laws, which protect workers who have been hurt at work regardless of fault, FELA requires that the injured worker show that the railroad was negligent. Railroads do have a general obligation to provide workers with a safe place to work, and if the worker is injured because the railroad did not provide him or her with the appropriate tools or equipment, the railroad may be guilty of negligence. The reason their liability insurance is so expensive is that railroad jobs carry a higher risk of serious injury because they’re dangerous places to work. So keep this in mind as you interview attorneys to represent you and ask how familiar they are in handling such complicated and ambiguous federal compensation laws into your case.
As we’ve noted, many victims of railroad accidents are regular people who are not employees of the railroad. This is where railroad crossings incidents and the laws that govern them come into play. The Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) enacted in 1970 controls safety regulations for the railroad industry. It sets minimum safety standards in an attempt to reduce the number of railroad-related accidents and death. An unfortunate by-product of the stature was that claimants were being deprived of their day in court because it also included quite a few loopholes then – and even more now through subsequent railroad-instigated legislation through their lobbyists. These loopholes are known and understood only by the railroads and the (few?) experienced accident attorneys who are familiar with them.
Through this subsequent legislative modification, by 2007 FRSA now gives the railroads virtual immunity from many lawsuits even if it is not in compliance with these minimum federal safety crossing standards. Derailment, crossing accident, or a train striking a pedestrian claimed that could not be brought because the federal law of Federal Railroad Safety Act providing immunity to the railroad preempted the state negligence law. But recently enacted wording in the law lessens these restrictions, and the liability of a purposefully negligent railroad company in pursuit of its profits by allowing crossing maintenance to slide.
One amendment that essentially placed a few more teeth into FRSA is that now state injury laws are not preempted by federal law by rote (or legal assumption). So today, injured plaintiffs in Texas can bring a cause of action under a number of allegations in a Texas civil court if he or she can prove that the railroad did not meet minimum federal safety standards or failed to meet its own internal standards or any standards separately enacted by the Texas legislature.
The damages available to the family of a person who suffered a wrongful death in a railroad accident are controlled by the Texas Wrongful Death Statute and the Texas Survival Statute rather than any federal standards. The claimants that can recover pursuant to these two statutes are the deceased’s parents, spouse and children. And there are no damage caps to the amount of compensation plaintiffs may be awarded.
Let the Railroad Injury Lawyers with our Law Firms Help You Fight for your Injury Rights in a Texas Court
As you now certainly understand, railroad injury lawsuits in Texas often involve navigating a minefield of state and federal laws and require clearly proving the railroad, whatever railroad or where it is located in Texas, should be liable under the specific circumstances of your case.
And in addition to legal expertise, industry experts are critical to successfully negotiate with or litigate against a railroad company such as Union Pacific or the few other powerful and influential railroads that operate in our state. An expert clarifies the facts of our investigations and often participates side-by-side with us in determining what the railroad failed to do from a safety perspective. The expert can review photos including video, measurements, witness statements, police reports, and other evidence in order to come up with credible conclusions. The train accident injury law attorneys at our Texas Law Firm will see to it that your medical bills, broken bones, other serious injuries that you must pay for are covered as well as any other expenses resulting from your railroad accident or the death of a loved one due to railroad company negligence.
Our Law Firm has decades of experience handling personal injury litigation in railroad accident cases. If you or a loved one has been hit by one of these huge, lumbering trains, our expertise assures that you receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of accident victims in Texas. So if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a train accident anywhere you might have been in Texas, our experienced accident lawyers can help win the best compensation possible for you.
Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation, and begin your road to real recovery and resume your life.
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