Norfolk Southern Train Kills Man in Apparent Suicide
A train collision killed a pedestrian in Norcross, GA on Wednesday morning, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. A Norfolk Southern train struck a man standing on the railroad tracks near South Peachtree and Stevens Road. The train collision occurred at about 8:47 a.m. The accident caused traffic problems at all downtown Norcross crossings. The accident occurred during morning rush hour. Police asked drivers to avoid the entire downtown area because of disruptions to traffic.
According to The Gwinnett Daily Post, police are investigating the accident as a possible suicide attempt. As reported by WSB-TV 2 Atlanta, eyewitnesses said the man made no apparent attempt to step off of the train tracks when the train was approaching. It’s this information that makes police believe the death was a suicide. The train attempted to stop, but it continued to travel for 2500 feet past the point where the man was standing, after which point the man was already dead.
Hundreds of Deaths and Injuries from Rail Collisions Annually
Dozens of people die each year in train accidents. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there have been over 80 deaths from train collisions at railway crossings and 163 deaths at non-crossing points along the railway so far in 2016. There have been almost 400 non-fatal collisions between trains and either cars or pedestrians. Trains hitting cars and pedestrians account for almost 95% of all train accidents.
Train Operators Must Take Care to Avoid Train Collisions
In accidents involving trains, the legal consequences depend on who the train accident injures. Train operators have a very high standard of responsibility toward any passengers, because a passenger train is what is known as a common carrier, like a bus or commercial airline. Train operators also owe a duty of care toward other people who may be on or near a train track, like the railway worker in Wilmington, Delaware who died in a train collision when an Amtrak train traveling over 100 miles per hour struck the backhoe he was operating, as The Insurance Journal reports. If it turns out that the train operator was not following reasonable safety procedures, and that this failure lead to the accident, the train operator may be liable for damages in a negligence lawsuit. If the victim of the accident dies and can’t bring a lawsuit themselves, the victim’s surviving family can file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover the value of the victim’s life.
Norfolk Southern Could Be Liable for Wrongful Death
In a collision like the one that occurred in Norcross, it seems unclear whether any negligence occurred. If eyewitness accounts are correct, and the man waited on the tracks intentionally with the goal of committing suicide, then the question becomes whether the train operator did everything they reasonably could to prevent the collision. For example, if the train was traveling at a higher rate of speed than is standard, this may have prevented the train from stopping before it hit the man. However, if the train was traveling at a reasonable speed, or if slowing down would not have prevented the accident, the train operator may not be liable for damages. Any negligence lawsuit would be a wrongful death suit with the surviving family as the plaintiffs.
Get Legal Help
If someone you love has died in an accident, you need legal help. Contact an experienced accident attorney at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter in Cobb County to get the justice you deserve.
