Virginia Railroad Crossing Accident Injury Lawyer Explains The Applicable Law and How It Could Effect Your Claim

These publications have details relating to the sight lines that should be available to a motorist approaching a railroad crossing, along with a number of other variables that must be followed, based on traffic and other factors. Cities, counties and states actually maintain detailed public rail crossing records and in many cases have “studied” the crossing. The Federal Railroad Administration has a crossing number for all public railroad crossings, and information is available online about each crossing by its number.

The issue of the types of warnings (signs, lights, gates) that should be erected at a public railroad crossing, or a private railroad crossing, are extremely complex and beyond the scope of a short article. However, the best warning devices at railroad crossings are "active warning devices" which means lights that are electronically activated by an approaching train, along with gates that will lower automatically on the approach of a train. A crossing with electronically activated warning lights, but no gates, is the next best protected crossing besides one with activated electronic lights and gates, because of the “active” change that occurs to warn drivers.

Cross bucks (signs with a “X” cross near the top marked railroad crossing) are placed at many crossings and some have added reflectorized tape. Of course, these devices are better than having no warnings, but they are not active in the sense that nothing alerts a car or truck driver when a fast or slow approaching train approaches the crossing.

Our Virginia personal injury lawyers have represented both motorists and crew members for many years in railroad accidents, and we have an excellent understanding of how to investigate these types of personal injuries and wrongful deaths at railroad crossings.

Our Virginia rail crossing injury law firm employs retired railroad workers as investigators and their network of connections is invaluable in a railroad crossing accident, not only to go investigate the circumstances at the crossing itself, but to pick up the phone or email persons that may have important information who may be retired from, or actually employed by, the railroad involved in our case. For example, we have represented crew members injured when a train has collided with a tractor trailer or truck at a rail crossing involving serious injuries. Also, we have represented persons located in cars that were struck by trains. We have represented persons in trucks who were struck at railroad crossings, where we could prove that the appropriate warnings or safety measures were not implemented at the crossing. We reported on case results of a prior railroad crossing injury case involving a father who had two young children in the back seat of the car and was struck by a Norfolk Southern train.

We have had other crossing cases in which train crew members suffered injuries when large commercial trucks blocked a crossing. We've successfully investigated and settled cases of head-on collisions between two trains, injuring crew members and we've been involved in derailments resulting in injuries to train crew members (see Graniteville Norfolk Southern train derailment).

Also, Rick Shapiro was co-author of a publication entitled Railroad Health and Safety, a Litigator's Guide, which is published in the nation's law libraries By Thomson West and is a book length treatment on railroad injury and safety law. If our firm can help you or a family member involved in a personal injury or wrongful death claim involving a railroad, please contact us by calling us toll free today for a confidential and free initial consultation.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia (VA) injury law firm whose attorneys focus exclusively on personal injury and accident law. We have a proven track record in the court room, and you can review our case results to see for yourself. Our attorneys have deep roots in Virginia and handle cases throughout the commonwealth including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton and Suffolk, VA. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in VA if you've been seriously hurt by another person's carelessness. 

Virginia injury lawyers Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Shapiro and Lewis have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010, making them among the 5 percent of lawyers so honored. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our Virginia Beach accident injury firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill. 

We alsooffer free special reports and edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard blog sites as a public information service.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to the high call volume, please leave a voicemaul and we will get back to you shortly.