Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer - injury

Metrolink Settles Most Cases from 2005 Glendale Train Crash

Paul Kiesel — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:33:29 GMT

After years of legal wrangling, Metrolink has settled most of the outstanding lawsuits arising from the 2005 Glendale crash that killed 11 people and injured about 180, the second-deadliest in Metrolink’s history, attorneys said.

Metrolink has agreed to pay $30 million to settle the majority of the approximately 150 claims and lawsuits filed against Metrolink, according to the lead plaintiff's attorney.

The remaining cases are expected to be resolved in the next month, plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

Any cases that are not settled are scheduled to go to trial in January.

Metrolink could not immediately be reached for comment.

A claims report in a July agenda for Metrolink’s board said it would be paying $3,901,500 in seven recently resolved lawsuits. Most of the cases involving serious injuries and fatalities were settled in a flurry of mediation talks in the last six months, attorneys said.

Plaintiffs' attorneys said Metrolink showed little interest in settling the larger cases until this April, more than four years after the Jan. 26, 2005, incident, which was the most severe in its history until last year’s Chatsworth crash.

“There was a sea change in attitude,” said Jerry Ringler, the lead plaintiff’s attorney, said in a recent interview. “I think we developed liability theories that were extremely powerful.”

In the 2005 crash, a Compton laborer parked his Jeep Grand Cherokee on the tracks and doused the interior with gasoline in what he later claimed was a suicide attempt.

A three-car southbound train, which was being pushed by a locomotive, slammed into the car, skidded down the tracks, then derailed. The lead passenger car crashed into an idle freight train, jackknifed and collided into a passenger train going the opposite direction on its way to Burbank.

“Thus far, we believe the Glendale settlements have been fair and reasonable given that Juan Alvarez, who parked his jeep on the Metrolink right-of-way, has been subsequently convicted of 11 counts of first-degree murder,” Ringler said in a statement released today.

Click here for the rest of the article.

And click here to read archived blogs related to Metrolink.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Metrolink Still Struggling with Saftey Improvements

Paul Kiesel — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:18:10 GMT

From the Los Angeles Times:

As the anniversary of the Sept. 12 Chatsworth train disaster approaches, officials with Southern California's sprawling commuter rail service are facing a vexing array of technical, financial and potential legal challenges as they struggle to deliver on pledges of trailblazing safety reforms.

A burst of energy to remake the region's Metrolink train operation was unleashed by the deadliest rail collision in modern California history, a watershed event that killed 25, injured 130 and prompted landmark federal mandates to modernize the nation's rail safety systems.

Today, the rush to reform Metrolink -- a thinly staffed hybrid transportation agency once derided as the political stepchild of the five counties that created it -- is becoming increasingly costly, time-consuming and complicated.

Labor leaders are digging in to fight an unprecedented push by agency officials to place locomotive train crews under continuous video surveillance.

Technical and financial challenges loom over an ambitious schedule to a deploy a $200-million collision-avoidance network for all commuter, freight and intercity trains moving across hundreds of miles of track.

Meanwhile, Metrolink officials have reversed course on an effort to assume direct control over hiring, training and supervising rail crews, a move prompted partly by disclosures that in Chatsworth, an engineer employed by a contractor apparently ran a red light while sending a text message on his cellphone just before colliding head-on with a freight train.

Fearing that trying to manage on-board train crews could overtax staff and trigger thorny labor issues, Metrolink's board of directors opted to farm out the critical function again, this time to Amtrak.

Compounding financial strains, ridership has been sliding since the crash, largely because of lower gas prices and the recession. Fare revenues dropped $1.4 million below estimates in the last quarter alone.

And operating insurance premiums recently surged $1 million above estimates because of Metrolink's accident history over the last decade, averaging one potentially catastrophic liability payout every two years, records show.

Although no major wrecks have occurred since Chatsworth, smaller accidents involving cars and pedestrians are running about the same this year as last -- 3.25 and 3.4 per month, respectively, the agency says.

But a rash of incidents leading up to this week's memorial observances has served as a reminder of the risks Metrolink confronts in its heavily urban mixed-rail environment.

Click here for the rest of the article.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Washington Metro Accident Will Prove Costly for Everyone Involved

Paul Kiesel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:48:48 GMT

From Bloomberg News:

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc. and insurers at Lloyd’s of London are among firms that may face a combined total of more than $100 million in claims tied to the Washington Metro crash that killed nine people last month.

The costs to the pool of insurers, which also includes Bermuda-based XL Capital Ltd. and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will depend on estimates of medical care, loss of expected lifetime earnings and the degree of negligence by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

The cost “will easily exceed $100 million,” said Peter Grenier, a lawyer at Washington-based Bode & Grenier LLP, who negotiated a $2.3 million settlement for a man who lost his wife when she was struck by a Metro bus in 2007.

The train accident may weigh on results at insurers after investment declines and falling rates pressured the firms. U.S. property and casualty carriers posted a record $1.3 billion first-quarter loss, compared with profit of $8.5 billion a year earlier, according to Insurance Services Office Inc.

The June 22 Metro accident, the deadliest in the city’s history, occurred when one train, operated by a computerized system, collided into another, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said June 23 in a press conference.

It was the worst U.S. commuter crash since an incident last September in Southern California involving a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific Corp. freight train. The Metrolink operator and 24 passengers died.

Click here for the rest of the article.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Lax Oversight Forces Metrolink to Hire Own Crews

Paul Kiesel — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:41:52 GMT

From the Los Angeles Times:

In the latest fallout from last year's Metrolink disaster, the Southern California commuter rail agency could begin directly hiring and managing its engineers and conductors next year, taking full responsibility for key tasks historically delegated to outside contractors.

The move, which officials say appears likely, comes after Metrolink's relationship with the current provider of train crews, Connex Railroad, was soured by allegations of lax oversight. The company recently gave formal notice that it does not plan to extend its operating agreement.

The Metrolink board first raised the prospect of ending the agreement after the Chatsworth collision with a freight train, which killed 25 and injured 135.

Assuming direct control of train crews would mark a major change for Metrolink, a 17-year-old, five-county public agency that grew rapidly by relying largely on private firms for everything from maintaining rail cars to fixing signals.

But the mood shifted after the Chatsworth catastrophe, in which a Connex engineer who had been text-messaging on his cellphone drove Metrolink 111 head-on into a Union Pacific freight train. The Sept. 12 accident, which federal investigators say came after the Connex engineer ran a red light, has set off what could be one of costliest railroad liability court battles on record.

It also prompted disclosures that, in violation of safety regulations, the engineer sent and received hundreds of text messages while on duty in the days before the collision. Robert M. Sanchez, who died in the crash, also sneaked young rail enthusiasts into the control cabs of passenger trains for ride-alongs, investigators found. Metrolink ordered the removal of two company managers after the disclosures.

Connex has defended its safety and supervision record, saying it has an intensive field testing program that exceeds industry standards. In a recent letter...

Click here for the rest of the article.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

NTSB Updates Annual "Wish" List of Safety Recommendations

Paul Kiesel — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:39:21 GMT

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES—The National Transportation Safety Board has removed worker fatigue and the use of positive train control from its annual "most wanted" list of safety recommendations to federal agencies.

Tuesday's decision comes after Congress, responding to last month's deadly train crash in Los Angeles, passed a railroad safety bill that was signed into law by President Bush. The law will require more rest for workers and the installation of positive train control technology that can stop a train in its tracks if it's headed for a collision.

For nearly two decades, NTSB officials pushed for widespread use of this technology. Federal officials have said it would have prevented the Sept.12 crash that killed 25 people.

Board Chairman Mark Rosenker says he believes the new law will save many lives.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Metrolink Engineer Sent Text Message Seconds Before Crash

Paul Kiesel — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:47:03 GMT

From NBC News: The engineer of a Metrolink commuter train sent a text message 22 seconds before the collision with a freight train in Los Angeles last month that killed 25 people, federal investigators said Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said that cell phone records of Robert Sanchez show he received a text message a minute and 20 seconds before the crash, and sent one about a minute later.

Investigators are looking into whether Sanchez was distracted when he ran through a red signal and collided with a Union Pacific train Sept. 12 in suburban Chatsworth.

The records also showed that Sanchez sent 24 text messages and received 21 messages over a two-hour period during his morning shift. During his afternoon shift, he received seven and sent five messages from his cell phone.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Metrolink is Still Dragging Its Heels on Safety

Paul Kiesel — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:49:49 GMT

Metrolink has decided to improve its safety technology by implementing its commuter trains with automatic train stop devices designed to prevent train collisions. This type of safety device may be new to Metrolink, however, it's been around since the 1940s.

So in response to California's most deadly commuter train accident in modern history, Metrolink decides to respond by implementing safety devices that could have been installed 15, 30 or 60 years ago?

Metrolink's board voted on the proposal to install the automatic train stops on Friday, but it was not clear when the devices would be installed and how much it would cost. Experts believe that had the automatic train stops been installed prior to the September 12, 2008 Chatsworth collision, it would not have necessarily prevented it from occurring. All automatic train stops provide is the ability to slow the train down to a stop in case of an emergency. The Chatsworth accident, which was caused when the engineer (who was text messaging) missed a red light, would not have been avoided with this type of technology because there wouldn't have been enough time for the train to slow down to a stop.

This news is even more frustrating as Metrolink has largely ignored government recommendation to provide adequate safety technology that is suppose to be at the forefront of preventing avoidable accidents. Automatic train stops might have been considered adequate in the 1940s, but with better technology available and proven, Metrolink needs to be accountable and prevent these types of accidents from occurring again. Many experts believe that the Chatsworth accident could have been avoided, had postive train control been installed on the commuter train.

Of course, Metrolink says it plans to install the more sophisticated positive train control system, which uses a global positioning system and can engage the brakes if a train fails to heed signals and/or gets on the wrong track. But after everything that's taken place in the last two weeks, one would think that now, not later, is the time to implement the most current technology to avoid this from happening again. Therefore, the question remains: What does eventually look like for Metrolink?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Bush Administration Strongly Opposed Mandatory Positive Train Controls, Boxer-Feinstein Bill Addresses Metrolink's Negligence

Paul Kiesel — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:02:05 GMT

Just last year, the head of Metrolink warned Congress that any proposals to require updated safety devices on trains, like positive train controls, would involve "substantial cost" and that railroads should be able to have the flexibility to police itself in implementing new systems.

This sentiment has been a long-running argument over the federal government's ability to require railroads to install safety devices like positive train controls. Positive train control would automatically apply the brakes if an engineer misses a stop signal, which is what caused the Metrolink crash last Friday.

25 people died in Friday's crash and another 135 were injured. Investigators say that the Metrolink engineer went through a signal that would have warned him to stop until the freight had moved onto a siding.

On Tuesday, speedily responding to the wreck, California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer called for quick action to be taken by Metrolink and other railroads. "This accident happened because of a resistance in the railroad community in America to utilize existing technology to produce fail-safe control of trains," Feinstein told the Senate floor. "The railroads have resisted [for years], saying these systems are too expensive. Well, how expensive is the loss of human life?"

Around the same time Metrolink was pressing Congress to leave the safety regulation up to the railroads, the Bush Administration was also strongly opposing mandatory positive train controls, saying the technology "has not yet been proven." However, many experts disagree.

The Boxer-Feinstein bill would mandate the installation of positive train control technology in freight and passenger trains and impose stiffer penalties, including $100,000 fines, for companies, like Metrolink, that fail to comply.

According to The Los Angeles Times, "[T]he rail industry had raised questions of costs and proposed that companies develop systems on their own timeline. David Solow, Metrolink's CEO, urged a Senate subcommittee in July 2007 to provide 'as much flexibility in the type of [train control] systems used and their implementation,'" (Los Angeles Times, 9/17/08).

On Monday, the head of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure said the Metrolink crash was preventable, and he accused the railroads of holding up legislation to prevent these type of catastrophic events from occurring in the future.

Feinstein believes that the rail industry's inaction on matters of safety is negligence, and she said that, "I'll even go as far to say that I believe it's criminal negligence not to do so."

Experts believe that positive train control could prevent 40 to 60 accidents a year, and seven fatalities and 55 injuries a year. This evidence is part of the Boxer-Feinstein bill, which is being touted as stronger than the pending House and Senate bill that address positive train control.

The railroad agencies and Metrolink must not think these lives are worth as much as the cost to implement positive train control and update safety standards or else they would have done so already. It's outrageous that the loss of 25 lives and injury of countless others is acceptable to Metrolink, when the technology exists, it's affordable and critical to prevent these accidents from occurring in the future.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Kiesel Boucher Larson: "Metrolink Must Finally Do The Responsible Thing..."

Paul Kiesel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:37:57 GMT

Magdaleno Family Press Conference at Kiesel Boucher Larson, September 15, 2008

The family of Aida Magdaleno filed a claim today against Metrolink, alleging the agency chose not to use the available rail safety features needed to protect Southern California rail commuters. “We don’t want her needless death to have been in vain,” said Juan Magdaleno, brother of the 19-year old college student who was one of 25 persons who perished in the Chatsworth tragedy.

The law offices of Kiesel Boucher Larson allege that Metrolink should have installed positive technology controls to stop trains before crashes occur.

Metrolink must immediately install current positive train controls, which automatically override errors made by human rail employees, such as the engineer who missed a red signal, enabling the collision, which resulted in the freight's locomotive pushing the Metrolink engine back inside the first coach.

The commuter train Aida was riding crashed into an oncoming train last week, according to Paul R. Kiesel, of Kiesel Boucher Larson, the law firm representing Magdaleno’s parents, Juvenal and Leticia Magdaleno of Camarillo.

“California requires rail carriers like Metrolink to use the utmost care and diligence to protect the public,” Kiesel said. “Metrolink must finally do the responsible thing and install existing positive train controls to help prevent this from ever happening again.”

According to The Los Angeles Times, Metrolink says it does not use positive train control because of the complexity of its track system. However, positive train control projects exist at nine railroads in at least 16 states, but not in California.

Railroad industry representatives say that the reason positive train control isn't widely used is because of its "high costs."

Barry M. Sweedler, a former senior director of the NTSB, who retired after 31 years, said, "It's extremely frustrating. They know what to do to solve these things."

"What they are saying is that they are willing to accept a certain number of these tragedies every year," Sweedler said. "This doesn't make any sense. Let's put some backbone into this. There is so much that can be achieved."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel

Metrolink Doesn't Learn From Its Mistakes

Paul Kiesel — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:18:06 GMT

According to Saturday's, September 13, 2008, Los Angeles Times, Federal investigators continued to comb the twisted wreckage of a commuter train in Chatsworth today as fresh details emerged that a Metrolink dispatcher tried, too late, to warn the engineer that he was about to collide with a freight train. The Friday rush-hour crash has so far claimed 25 lives.

Metrolink officials on Saturday said their train's engineer apparently failed to heed a trackside red light near a junction with a railroad siding. But they did not disclose how they knew the red light was functioning properly.

Regular riders on the route said the Metrolink train heading toward Simi Valley often stops at the junction to wait for a Union Pacific freight train headed toward downtown Los Angeles to switch to the siding.

On Friday, however, the Metrolink train continued north before the freight train had passed, tripping an alarm at the commuter line's dispatch center in Pomona.

A Metrolink dispatcher called the train and reached the conductor, according to a Metrolink spokesman.

But by then, the crash had already occurred on the curve leading west toward Simi Valley, killing the engineer.

As details of the train collision come to surface, many experts believe that Metrolink could have avoided this "preventable accident."

"I'm not surprised that once again there has been a terrible, preventable train collision," said Barry M. Sweedler, a former senior director of the NTSB, who retired after 31 years. "It's extremely frustrating. They know what to do to solve these things."

If Metrolink had installed collision-avoidance devices, known as positive train control, which the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended for decades, the electronic devices would have automatically applied the breaks after the engineer failed to comply with signals, preventing the wreck. As of Sunday Night, 135 passengers have been wounded (40 critically), due to the freight train’s locomotive pushing the Metrolink engine back inside the first coach.

"The sophisticated systems can detect speed-limit violations, improperly aligned switches, unauthorized train movements and whether trains are on the wrong track or have missed signals to slow or stop. It does not warn crews about obstacles on tracks," (Los Angeles Times, 9/14/08).

Metrolink says it does not use positive train control because of the complexity of its track system. However, positive train control projects exist at nine railroads in at least 16 states, but not in California.

Railroad industry representatives say that the reason positive train control isn't widely used is because of its "high costs."

Sweedler, who played a major role in adding positive train controls to the board's wish list, told the Los Angeles Times that the railroad industry has used the same financial and technical excuses for decades to avoid paying for the systems.

"In Alaska they are installing it. It operates on the Northeast corridor. It operates between Chicago and Detroit. The systems work," he said.

Sweedler blamed the lack of progress on political pressure brought by railroads on Congress and the Federal Railroad Administration, something railroad officials deny.

"What they are saying is that they are willing to accept a certain number of these tragedies every year," Sweedler said. "This doesn't make any sense. Let's put some backbone into this. There is so much that can be achieved."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Kiesel