When a CSX train hit an all-terrain vehicle passenger near Effingham in Florence County, South Carolina (SC), on July 8, 2012, the woman suffered fatal injuries. The ATV driver also went to the hospital with injuries but is expected to make a full recovery.
The railroad crossing at Smallwood Road and Irby Street has no warning lights or gates to alert people of approach trains, and the crash survivor told investigators he never saw or heard the train. He tried to swerve at the last moment, but succeeded only in flipping the four-wheeler and throwing his passenger — who was also his wife — from the ATV and onto the tracks.
The Carolina Railroad Accident Lawyers’ Perspective
Unmarked and insufficiently controlled railroad crossings put drivers, riders, pedestrians and train crews at great risk. As Carolina railroad injury and wrongful attorneys, we have written many times that installing and maintaining relatively inexpensive and uncomplicated barriers and warning devices at crossing could prevent hundreds of rail accidents each year. Perhaps this crash in South Carolina will prompt CSX to do more to keep vehicles, people and trains from getting onto its tracks at the same time.
Potentially Helpful Info
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