Train Accident Cases in California
As the Rabbi Lawyer, it’s my job to keep apprised of recent developments in personal injury and Tort law in California.
It has been a while since I discussed train accident cases. Train accident cases are rare, but when they happen, the results are usually devastating. Trains and railroads often involve overlapping areas of law, and train accident cases are usually handled in federal court.
This week, the California Court of Appeal ruled on a wrongful death case in Orange County involving an Amtrak train. The facts are quite sad.
Jacqueline Gibson and her husband Ernest were walking along the railroad tracks near Doheny State Beach in Orange County on April 16, 2018. They were walking towards the campground, away from one of the hotels in the area. The couple were heading north. No trains were approaching north to south, so Jacqueline stepped on the tracks to cross.
That’s when she heard a loud horn blaring to her left. An Amtrak train was barreling towards her and was less than 3 seconds from impact. Jacqueline froze. Her husband Ernest quickly stepped on the tracks and pushed her out of the way. Sadly, he was not able to get out of the way himself. While he saved his wife Jacqueline’s life, he was fatally struck by the oncoming Amtrak train. It took the conductor 700 feet to bring the train to a complete stop.
Jacqueline sued the train conductor Richard Wingfield. She alleged he was negligent in not honking the horn earlier. Expert testimony showed that Wingfield should have seen Jacqueline and her husband about 14 seconds prior to the collision. Wingfield had been eating a snack and as a result, Jacqueline argued that he was negligent.
At trial, Jacqueline agreed that she was partially at fault for the collision. In California, “comparative negligence” applies in the sense that more than one person can be responsible for a subsequent harm. In other words, just because Jacqueline was partially at fault did not mean that Richard Wingfield was also not at fault for the collision and Ernest’s death. In cases like these, the jury ultimately apportions fault as a percentage. For example, the jury could find that Jacqueline was 20% at fault and Richard was 80% at fault.
But that’s not what happened. The jury found that while Richard was negligent in the way he navigated the train, his negligence was not a substantial factor in Ernest’s death. The Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict. Richard Wingfield was not responsible for Ernest’s death and would not be required to compensate Jacqueline for this unbearable loss. You can read the opinion here.
Train accidents and pedestrians getting hit by trains is a serious issue. There are some basic railroad track safety rules that everyone should know.
A key rule is that you should never walk on or even adjacent to a railroad track. According to federal officials, nearly 1,200 pedestrians were killed on railroad tracks across the country in 2022. The same figures show that California had the most pedestrian deaths on railroad tracks.
For questions about a Los Angeles, Orange County, or other Southern California railroad train accident case, my office is ready to assist, 24/6.
