The questions on this page were answered by our team of Virginia Beach & Norfolk personal injury attorneys. The questions are categorized by practice area such as car accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, etc. If you have specific questions about your situation, contact our firm to set up a free consultation with an actual attorney.

A train to train collision is one of the most destructive types of crashes that can happen. The only cause of a train to train crash is negligence on the part of the railroad, either by railroad employees or railroad equipment. These crashes often result in explosions, derailments, and injuries and deaths to hundreds of victims.

A train derailment is when the train runs off its tracks. When derailments occur, passengers in the train can suffer serious injuries. Derailments are often caused by train operator error, train malfunction, or improperly or poorly maintained sections of the track.

One of the most common types of train accidents is train and car crashes. Each year, there are more than 300 people killed when their vehicles are slammed into by a train. When a train hits a vehicle, the force is equivalent to a vehicle hitting a soda can. In the majority of train and car accidents, vehicle occupants usually suffer severe or fatal injuries.

 

• Use all safety gear the railroad provides
• Only do tasks in the yard you are trained to do.
• Do not modify any tools you use
• Use ladders, handholds and stairs
• Always participate in safety briefings
• Never walk under suspended loads
• Make note of any damage to trains or locomotives and report this information to your supervisor

Yes. Showing railroad workers as indifferent to safety allows the rail company to avoid paying for worker injuries, even if the company engaged in bad safety practices. Railroad workers can protect themselves from having their FELA claim rejected by following basic rail yard safety tip?

Our Virginia railroad injury attorneys have learned that rail corporations will try nearly any method to convince the jury that you inflicted harm on yourself by breaking safety rules. Major railroads such as Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern know they only can be held liable under the Federal Employers Liability Act or FELA, if evidence is shown the company acted negligently.

Of course not.  First of all a lawyer must present a written agreement in order to become your attorney and it sets forth the legal fee, which is typically a percentage of the recovery-so the worker is not paying out of  pocket unless there is a recovery.  What the railroads never tell you, is they are having their lawyers figure out ways to defeat your claim while you deal with the claim agent, and vital evidence that you own lawyer would acquire is not being acquired on your behalf.  But, if you have permanent injuries not hiring a lawyer is even worse.  The railroad claims agent will never get reports from your doctors about the permanent injuries you have suffered in order to decide to pay you MORE for permanent consequences of your injury.  The claim agent will totally ignore the future consequences.  And, the claim agent will never tell you whether the railroad is aware that it violated a safety regulation or was negligent, which is a condition that you must prove in order to recover under the governing FELA law.  You should seek a free confidential consultation from an experienced railroad attorney at our firm if you have any concerns after reading this.

Three years from when the worker knew or should have known that their injury or disease arose from work at the railroad.  In disease cases, the key is when the 3 year timeframe begins is the tricky issue, so consult with one of our experienced Virginia railroad worker injury attorneys on this issue.

It's definitely not too late because the federal law governing worker claims for on‑the‑job injuries does not require an accident report ever have been filed.  Also, a railroad cannot fire you for simply making a report at the point where your problem manifests into a serious injury.  Consult with an experienced railroad accident injury attorney at our firm if this is a situation you find yourself in.

The federal law governing worker claims against their railroad employer is called the Federal Employers Liability Act.  There is no mandatory requirement for any written accident report.  Consult with an experienced Virginia railroad worker injury attorney as to whether you should demand that one be filed for a disease that does not have a clear original date it began.