Mother sues CSX over trestle death of her son

[gatorback]

Lake:  I was just stating the obvious and as I mention before the bulldozer/pipe cutter theory that anybody can get into anywhere they want isn't a defense in this case.  Could the RR make their operations safer by spending some money?  Yes.  Will they?  No. Why? Cuse Managment wants that $100,000 MB, or BMW, and that $90,000 wedding for their precious daughter at Epping Forsest Yatch club, or the University Club., etc.

The quad gates would make rr crossing grades safer by not allowing cars to cut throught the other directions.

[Driven1]

oh.  if i was the railroad Defense Attorney. this is too easy of a case.  first, i would find out if the boy did in fact have alcohol in his blood.  if he did, the case becomes that much easier.  if he did not, i would pursue the simple facts in the case  - the train was going under the speed limit, there were no trespassing signs, the trestle was far from a paved road so the boys had to be quite intentional about trespassing and that the engineer goes through many, many hours of safety training and blew the VERY LOUD horn early.  of course, there is Strict Liability in play here (as Gatorback has pointed out numerous times) and so the case would probably settle before ever coming to me as the Defense Attorney.

[thelakelander]

Location of accident

you  can easily see from this map that there is every likelihood that the boys crossed through the woods to the fishing spot, and further that fishing there is a pretty common occurence.

Its even possible that they came to the gates with no signs and no experience with the nature of the bridge, which btw is quite long.

From aerials and water management surveys, those "woods" surrounding the bridge are wetlands.  The easiest path to the bridge would appear to be the tracks themselves.

[Midway ®]

So then maybe the fence idea is not so good. That is unless they put a fence across the tracks at each end of the bridge?

[gatorback]

Just say you owned a big cat.  And some boys jumped a fence and went fishing off your dock while have a few beers.  The big cat get's one and kills him.  Even though you have signs, a fence, etc., it doesn't matter...your responsible.  I look at CSX the same way as the cat owner.  Am I wrong? 

[RiversideGator]

if i was a trial attorney, there is NO WAY i would take this case.  this case would be just BEGGING to sink my practice.  what...with the 43 in a 50, engineer blew the horn, no trespassing signs and the possibility of alcohol in the kid's blood!!

im asking river how he would take the case from the point of view of the rr.

and please take care with the dead that you dont slander them. They arent here to defend themselves.

1)  I dont do PI on either the plaintiff or defendant side.
2)  If I did, I would take the case to represent CSX.  CSX can certainly pay the attorney's fees.  I would also represent the kid's family hoping for a quick settlement and a 1/3 cut for the lawyer.  This is unrelated to my personal views of the situation.  And, lawyers dont choose their clients totally.  They can turn some down but ultimately you take what you get to some extent. 

[adamh0903]

if i was a trial attorney, there is NO WAY i would take this case.  this case would be just BEGGING to sink my practice.  what...with the 43 in a 50, engineer blew the horn, no trespassing signs and the possibility of alcohol in the kid's blood!!

im asking river how he would take the case from the point of view of the rr.

and please take care with the dead that you dont slander them. They arent here to defend themselves.

Hi kettle, I’m Pot...Your black

You have miss-quoted the engineer in every post you have referenced. Nowhere has the engineer said he played chicken with kids, what he did say was

"He said children often play chicken with the train before jumping into the water. But this time, they didn't jump. Upon realizing that, he threw the brakes"

Which to me, says the game of chicken is only being played one way. So we go back to page 1 of this thread....whose responsibility is it that someone was on the tracks when a train was coming? The person on the tracks when the train was coming. Responsibility doesn’t fall to the train operator to break earlier or to CSX to put up more signs.

If you play in the street and get hit by a car, who responsibility is it....If you play with a gun a get shot, who's fault is it. The person playing in the street, the person playing with guns and the person playing on a RR track..

[gatorback]

adamh0903:  Read:

Just say you owned a big cat.  And some young boys jumped a fence with bobwire, and went fishing off your dock while having a few beers also puffing the magic dragon. You've got lots of signs, No Trespassing, Danger, etc. The big cat get's one and kills him. Maybe they even taunted the cat.  Even though you have signs, a fence, etc., it doesn't matter...your responsible.  I look at CSX the same way as the cat owner.  Am I wrong? 

[I-10east]

Why are people trying to vilify CSX when this kid clearly trespassed on CSX property? Some people on this thread are really stretchin' it, coming up with unrealistic solutions like " an impenetrable crossing gate, and 24-7 security". Get Real!!!!! Only in Fairy-tale Land that's possible. It's sad that the kid died, and I know it's hard on the family, but CSX isn't the blame here. I did stupid stuff when I was a kid; Things like running across I-95, Jumping off a Hart bridge off-ramp into a building's roof, and swimming in a closed Emmett Reed Public Pool at night; If I happen to have gotten killed doing those stupid things, I wouldn't look for any handouts to my family from FDOT, Dept of Recreation or whoever. When does it stop with the sue-happy mentality? 

[Driven1]

Why are people trying to vilify CSX when this kid clearly trespassed on CSX property? Some people on this thread are really stretchin' it, coming up with unrealistic solutions like " an impenetrable crossing gate, and 24-7 security". Get Real!!!!! Only in Fairy-tale Land that's possible. It's sad that the kid died, and I know it's hard on the family, but CSX isn't the blame here. I did stupid stuff when I was a kid; Things like running across I-95, Jumping off a Hart bridge off-ramp into a building's roof, and swimming in a closed Emmett Reed Public Pool at night; If I happen to have gotten killed doing those stupid things, I wouldn't look for any handouts to my family from FDOT, Dept of Recreation or whoever. When does it stop with the sue-happy mentality? 

it doesn't stop I-10east. that is the saddest part.  there are WAY too many devils advocates and hungry trial attorneys for this madness to stop.  go back and read this thread in its entirety and you may even find a couple of the former here.  sad indeed. 

[Driven1]

if i was a trial attorney, there is NO WAY i would take this case.  this case would be just BEGGING to sink my practice.  what...with the 43 in a 50, engineer blew the horn, no trespassing signs and the possibility of alcohol in the kid's blood!!

im asking river how he would take the case from the point of view of the rr.

and please take care with the dead that you dont slander them. They arent here to defend themselves.

Hi kettle, I’m Pot...Your black

ROFL!!!  AdamH...don't you know?  If you twist the truth enough and spin it around into a lie, it becomes a whole new, different, prettier truth.

[Midway ®]

adamh0903:  Read:

Just say you owned a big cat.  And some young boys jumped a fence with bobwire, and went fishing off your dock while having a few beers also puffing the magic dragon. You've got lots of signs, No Trespassing, Danger, etc. The big cat get's one and kills him. Maybe they even taunted the cat.  Even though you have signs, a fence, etc., it doesn't matter...your responsible.  I look at CSX the same way as the cat owner.  Am I wrong? 

Umm...a big cat is not in the business of moving things like coal and freight that are vital to the country. A big cat is a wild carnivorous animal that is unpredictable in its actions. A big cat doesn't own the property that it is capable of roaming around on. A big cat does not have a franchise from the US Government to move around. A big cat does not have a diesel engine. (Except for the D9). A big cat does not stay exclusively on two steel rails.

So....I think you might be wrong here.

This is a tragic accident plain and simple. That the kid did not have a plan B for when the train came through, or did not consider that a train might come through was a serious oversight on his part that resulted in his demise. Kids do things with a lack of forethought all of the time, some of those things are fatal.

[RiversideGator]

Wow.  I am in agreement with midway again.  Perhaps I should reexamine my position.   

[Midway ®]

When was the last time you were in agreement with me?

[RiversideGator]

About subsidies for Amtrak.  Maybe it is just a train thing.