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Matthew Hodge Critically Injured At Trinity Railroad Crossing

By George Fusner

The Tennessean reported yesterday on the condition of Matthew Hodge the teenage driver who was critically injured at a railroad crossing in Williamson County on Saturday afternoon August 22. The reports indicate he suffered head injuries. Matthew is a senior at Page High School. His car was struck in the rear by the train. In looking at the pictures it seems odd that he suffered a head injury.

In accidents such as this it is imperative that the injured persons family immediately hire an attorney to begin an investigation to document the scene, preserve the evidence, and determine the cause of the wreck. You can be sure the railroad investigators were at the scene within hours of the collision.

Did the crossing have adequate warning devices. Was this railroad crossing extra-hazardous because of an obstructed view? Was the train traveling at an unreasonable rate of speed when it entered a railroad crossing? Did the engineer give adequate warning considering all the circumstances?

At the outset, the investigation of every railroad crossing case includes not only a determination of the duty and responsibility of the railroad, but also a determination of the duty and responsibility of the relevant governmental authority. Governmental authorities are frequently defendants in railroad crossing litigation. Roadway design criteria, which essentially is the responsibility of the governmental agency having jurisdiction over the roadway and not normally a responsibility of the railroad is critical. Even though it is the governmental agency which sometimes has jurisdiction over the track bed itself, the railroad must be cognizant of, and is charged with constructive knowledge of, the character, layout, alignment, and grading of the roadway over which it will operate its trains. In this regard, a railroad crossing case is essentially a triangle of responsibility between three components: (1) the governmental agency that may own the track bed; (2) the railroad; and (3) the motor vehicle operator.

The lawyer must be familiar with highway design criteria and hire the right experts to understand what the railroad should have known about the anticipated motor vehicle traffic and hazards awaiting the motorist by the approach of a train, given the circumstances of the particular crossing. It is against the backdrop of proper highway design criteria that the reasonableness of warning devices and signals must ultimately be judged. Witnesses must be interviewed sooner rather than later before their memories become dull. A history of other wrecks at this crossing must be established.

In 1988, Congress required the Secretary of Transportation to enact a rule requiring all trains to be equipped with event data recorders. The rules on event data recorders were issued in 1995 some 8 years later. Currently, event recorders in locomotives are required to be installed in any train operated faster than 30 miles per hour. The recorder is required to record data on train speed, direction of motion, time, distance, throttle position, brake applications and operations and cab signal aspect (if the locomotive is so equipped) over the most recent 48 hours of operation and must be tamper proof.

If a locomotive is involved in an accident that is required to be reported to the FRA, the railroad shall preserve the data recorded by the event data recorder, to the extent possible and consistent with safety. The railroad may extract the data if it retains the original or a "first-order accurate copy" in secure custody. The original or copy shall not be analyzed except at the direction of the FRA or NTSB. The original or copy shall be retained for 30 days, unless the FRA or NTSB notified the railroad the data is needed for analysis. Thus it is critical for a lawyer to become involved BEFORE the data is destroyed. A spoliation letter should be sent immediately to prevent the loss of critical information.

The medical bills will be staggering in a case like this, let alone the lasting impairments from a head injury. It is difficult for a family to act in times like this when a loved one is so critically injured. However, acting now will benefit young Matthew in the long run.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by George Fusner

Full post as published by Nashville Personal Injury Lawyer on August 25, 2009 (boomark / email).