Personal Injury Law

L Rider Who Says She Was Beaten on the Green Line Sues Chicago Transit Authority for Illinois Personal Injury

A woman who says she was the victim of an assault crime while riding a Green Line train on January 12 is suing the Chicago Transit Authority for Illinois personal injury. Katherine Willeke says that the ?panic button? was inaccessible when she tried to call for help as two youths stole another passenger?s wallet.

Willeke says that as she tried contacting 911 on her cell phone, the two assailants used a metal object to strike her body and head multiple times. They then ran off the train close to the Laramie and Cicero stops.

Willeke?s Chicago personal injury lawsuit contends that the CTA disabled the emergency call button when they blocked it off from passengers. She also says that the train operator saw the attacks but failed to call for help.

Chicago train crashes are not the only kinds of train accidents that can cause personal injury. Recently, there have been incidents involving Chicago trains that have endangered people?s lives.

On December 19, a Chicago train left a station while a 4-year-old?s foot was stuck in one of the train doors. The doors first shut on the boy?s chest before opening briefly and then closing again on his leg. His mother, Eileen Kermer says that as the train started to move, she began frantically pulling at her son to free him. Fortunately, the boy was able to free him by removing foot from his boot. He did not sustain any physical injuries.

Kermer says that there wasn?t a conductor to make sure that all doors were clear for departure at the station where they got off. According to METRA, train crew personnel are supposed to make sure that all doors and platforms are free and clear before a train can leave the station.

Just last month, the doors of another Chicago train closed on a stroller that was carrying a 22-month-old girl. The train pulled the stroller with it and the toddler suffered minor injuries after she was thrown from the stroller and landed on her back.

L rider sues over faulty 'panic button', Chicago Sun Times, December 30, 2009

2 suspended for foot caught in train doors, UPI, December 22, 2009

Chicago Train Drags 22-Month-Old Girl in Stroller, Chicago Injury Attorney, November 4, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Chicago Transit Authority

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on December 30, 2009 (boomark / email).