Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Personal Injury Law Blogs -> Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

Personal Injury Law

: Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

Metra to Pay $1.45 Million to Joliet Woman Injured in 2005 Chicago Train Derailment

Metra has agreed to pay Catherine Kozi-O'Donnell $1.45 million for injuries she sustained during the September 17, 2005 Illinois train derailment accident that killed 2 people and injured 117 others. Kozi-O?Donnell, who broke her leg and already has undergone surgery, will have to undergo knee replacement surgery.

National Transportation Safety Board has said that the deadly train accident involving a Rock Island Line Metra train going from Joliet to Chicago occurred while the train was traveling at 69 mph when it should have been going just 10 mph. The double-decker commuter Metra train jumped the tracks as it attempted to switch tracks at a crossover and then struck a steel bridge. The NTSB blames engineer Michael Smith for failing to pay attention to the signals and slow the train down. It found Metra at fault for not having an automatic system that could override human mistakes.

Others that have resolved their claims with Metra over the 2005 Chicago train accident are Renea Poppel, who sustained a traumatic brain injury, a fractured arm, a broken neck, vision problems and a crushed pelvis. She was pregnant at the time and delivered her daughter while she was still hospitalized. A jury awarded Poppel, who now needs a full-time caregiver, $29.5 million.

The families of the two women that died, 22-year-old Oak Forest resident Jane Cuthbert and 38-year-old New Lenox resident Allison Walsh, settled their Chicago wrongful death lawsuits with Metra for $11 million.

Train Derailment
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were 1,876 reported US train derailments in 2007. Common causes of train derailments include:

? Human errors
? Track defects
? Mechanical problems with the train
? Train signal failures
? Poor weather
? Vandalism

Metra to pay $1.45 million to passenger hurt in '05 derailment, Chicago Breaking News, September 27, 2010

Why Do Trains Go off the Tracks?, Slate, May 19, 2008

Safety board: 2 killed on Chicago train going 60 mph over, USA Today, November 18, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Train Accidents, Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

Metra Home

Metra To Pay $11M In Train Death Settlements, The Huffington Post, November 12, 2008

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on September 30, 2010 (boomark / email).