Articles Posted in Train Accidents

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Massachusetts has one of the most heavily used light rail lines in the country – the Green Line, named accordingly as it primarily passes through a place known as the Emerald Necklace of Boston. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) runs this streetcar system, which is the oldest line of Boston’s subway with an average of 232,000 people riding it on any given weekday. Have you ever taken the Green Line to work, to shop or to visit friends or family in another area?

Since the Green Line will take you through Downtown Boston and Back Bay, it is no wonder why so many people have chosen this convenient method of transportation over driving. Still, the Green Line is not perfect and is subject to scrutiny recently by its own passengers. This criticism is due to the accident that occurred two days ago when the trolley derailed, struck an empty trolley, and injured some of its passengers as well as its operator.

The accident occurred between Brigham Circle and Longwood Medical Area stops on the “E” line. Many people were injured and both trolleys suffered significant damage. An estimated 24 people were on the train, 3 of which were taken to the hospital to be treating for their injuries. These injured passengers, along with the operator of the trolley, complained of neck and back pain. Even though the number of accidents on MBTA lines has decreased in the past few years, the statistics provide little to no comfort to the victims of the latest accident.
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Three people sustained Boston injuries on Monday in a collision involving two Green line trolleys. According to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, human error was the cause of the accident.

The Boston trolley crash occurred in the afternoon in the 700 block of Huntington Avenue on the Green Line’s “E” branch close to the Brigham Circle. One of the trolleys derailed, which resulted in it making contact with another trolley. According to a preliminary investigation, a switch that should have been shut was left open.

The three people that were injured include the operator and two passengers, who complained of neck and back pain. One of the passengers who got hurt was Wessam Paki. He told WBZ that he had dozed off on the trolley but woke up when passengers started falling on him. He says that his head struck the wall and he sustained arm and leg injuries.

If you believe that your Boston train accident or trolley crash was caused by negligence, whether due to a mechanical glitch or human error, you should contact Altman & Altman LLP right away.

Collisions involving trolleys, subways, and trains can cause serious injuries to passengers, operators, engineers, and rail workers. Depending on whether you are a patron or employee, you may be entitled to certain recovery benefits. For example, injured passengers may be entitled to Boston personal injury compensation and Massachusetts railroad workers may be eligible for work injury coverage under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act.

What you don’t want to do is not pursue damages or fail to file your Massachusetts workers’ injury claim because you think doing so will be too much of a hassle or you are too intimidated by the process. Having an experienced lawyer can make all the difference in what you end up recovering in a civil case or receiving as your work injury benefits.

Green Line Trolley Crash Caused By Human Error, CBS Boston Local, October 8, 2012

2 Boston Greenline Trolleys Sideswipe, Boston.com/AP, October 8, 2012

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

More Blog Posts:
Suffolk County Jury Awards Scituate Woman Hurt in 2009 Boston Green Line Trolley Collision $1.2 Million, Boston Injury Lawyers Blog, June 30, 2012

Boston Commuter Train Crashes With Elderly Woman’s Car in Train Crossing, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, March 30, 2011

MBTA Suspends Drivers for Cell Phone Use on the Job, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, October 8, 2012 Continue reading

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A jury has awarded Colleen Fyffe $1.2 million for injuries she sustained in the 2009 Green Line trolley crash that was caused by an operator who was text messaging. This is the first of 24 Boston personal injury lawsuits related to the accident, which injured 49 people. Nine of the cases have been settled for about $31,000 each.

Fyffe hurt her neck and sustained a herniated disc when the trolley rear-ended another train. She contends that because of the Boston MBTA train accident, she was unable to go back to her job with Delta Air Lines at Logan International Airport.

Her Boston injury case went to trial after she rejected the $100,000 settlement that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had offered her. MBTA intends to appeal the verdict.

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According to a recent study from the Urban Land Institute, an increase in the number of riders and construction projects around existing transit stations could overwhelm the system. The Boston branch of the nonprofit-a leading land-use think tank-has warned that ridership could increase 20 percent by the end of the decade. The estimate is supported by recent figures which highlight a trend of continued growth in the number of MBTA passengers. There were about 390 million transit trips in Greater Boston last year-the most since 1946.

The implications of this trend are worrisome. Aside from limiting future development in the region and slowing the economy, overcrowded public transit could pose more serious safety concerns. Overcrowding, without the relief of more subway cars, better power and signal systems, and other necessary measures, could increase the risk of accidents or injuries occurring. According to the report, issues such as delays and bottlenecks are especially likely in “hot spots” where ridership is highest.
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Clearly, we’re all aware that the MBTA is in dire straits and is desperately trying to cut costs. The issue of cutting T services and/or hiking T fares has been the most prominent issue, which is reasonable given that such changes would impact a great number of Massachusetts residents on a daily basis. But another less-public issue revolves around tort reform, an issue that is less broadly applicable, but may cut more deeply into some individuals’ lives. And, of course, this is a particularly relevant issue for personal injury lawyers like us.

In short, the MBTA is seeking to cap personal injury awards at $100,000 in an effort they say could save the agency $4 million per year. What some people might not realize is that serious MBTA injuries have been considered unique, subject to an exception to the $100,000 cap on personal injury awards that are imposed on similar judgments against all other state agencies.

Hiking fare evasion fines? OK, reasonable. Moderate increase in T fares? Controversial, but still logical. Limiting the recovery of seriously injured passengers with life-changing injuries? Perhaps in a league of its own. According to reports, this issue was scheduled to be heard by the joint Transportation Committee this past week.

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The family of Samantha Mattei is suing MBTA and trolley operated Aiden Quinn for Boston personal injury. Mattei is one of 68 people who were injured in the 2009 MBTA green line trolley accident caused by Quinn, who was text messaging.

Mattei, who was a freshman at Merrimack College at the time, broke her back and sustained a serious concussion, facial lacerations, nerve damage, and other injuries when she was thrown from her seat and into a pole. According to the 21-year-old’s family, she also continues to suffer from nausea, vertigo, headaches, memory loss, and speech impediments.

Mattei also now walks with a cane, needs help getting around campus, cannot drive, and may lose her scholarships because she has a hard time concentrating and her grades have suffered. Also since the Boston train accident, Mattei has fallen seven times and had to go to the hospital emergency room. Her family’s MBTA accident lawsuit is seeking compensation for Mattei’s pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical expenses.

Prosecutors say Quinn, who pleaded guilty to negligent operation of the trolley, passed through a red light and two red lights before striking another trolley. Mattei’s family say that MBTA should have properly evaluated Quinn’s driving record (he had prior speeding tickets), and failed to stop drivers from talking on a cell phone while operating trains even though they knew that distracted driving can cause train accidents. Several other victims from the green line trolley crash have filed Boston injury lawsuits.

The National Transportation Safety Board released its report about the trolley accident this week. In addition to confirming that Quinn ran a red light because he was texting, NTSB said that that there should have been a system in place to stop the trains automatically if they came too close to hitting each other.

NTSB confirms texting led to ’09 trolley crash, Metro, April 28, 2011
Crash victim’s family files lawsuit against T, Boston, April 30, 2011
Victim from texting crash sues T, Boston Herald, April 30, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

National Transportation Safety Board

More Blog Posts:
MBTA Releases Documents Relating to 2009 Accident on Green Line, Boston Car Accident Lawyer, November 12, 2010
Boston Green Line Train Crash that Injured Dozens is A Reminder of Why Text Messaging And Driving Don’t Mix, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, May 12, 2009 Continue reading

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Our Boston attorneys have recently seen that a 55-year-old resident of Millbury was hit by a MBTA commuter rail train yesterday afternoon. The accident occurred on the tracks near 61 Frank Street in Worcester.

The commuter rail train left Boston at 2:40 p.m. and was traveling at approximately 40 mph when it struck the pedestrian.

Luckily, one of the passengers on the train was a registered nurse. The nurse provided first aid to the pedestrian until Worcester EMS arrived. The injured man was immediately taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus for treatment.
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Speaking exclusively to WHDH, Betty Velasquez says the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is not taking the injuries she sustained when her purse, arm, and foot became trapped in a train door seriously. Velasquez, a Quincy resident, says the incident caused her to fall consciousness and temporarily lose feeling in her hand and arm. She also has suffered from dizzy spells and migraines following the MBTA accident.

Velazquez says she had to go to the hospital and underwent a CAT scan. She is on several kinds of medication and working with a physical therapist. She also has taken several weeks off from her job while she recovers.

The unfortunate Boston train incident happened at South Station on November 6 when Velasquez’s purse got caught in the train door as she tried to board. She was able to free her body from the train, but she ran next to it in an attempt to pull her purse free. Her body slammed into a wall close to the end of the platform before she freed herself.

Two MBTA workers have been disciplined over the incident. The 39-year-old train operator was suspended for 10 days and the train attendant whose job it is to observe the doorways and platform was fired.

While the MBTA says it is fortunate that Velasquez wasn’t seriously injured, her Boston injury lawyer says that his client’s injuries were definitely not minor ones.

Train Door Accidents
Train doors are supposed to be properly maintained and train workers must make sure that the doors and platform area are clear for departure. Train doors also must be closed properly before a train can leave a station. Malfunctioning train doors can cause injuries. A person boarding or exiting the train can caught in between or get hit by the doors as they shut. A passenger can fall out of a moving train if the doors open suddenly.

Injuries caused by a defective or faulty train door and/or because a MBTA worker was negligent can be grounds for a Boston injury lawsuit.

Boston subway survivor speaks out, WWLP, December 9, 2009
MBTA Train Snags Purse, Sends Woman Sprawling, The Boston Channel, December 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
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A 2009 poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation reports that in the last year, up to 1.9 million US motorists have either been in a motor vehicle accident or were nearly in an auto collision because they were drowsy while driving. 105 million motorists admitted that they’ve driven while sleepy in the last year, while 54 million drivers say they drowsy drive at least once a month.

What many of these drivers don’t understand is that drowsy driving is extremely dangerous. It one of the most common causes of traffic crashes. The National Transportation Safety Board says that 250,000 US drivers a day fall asleep while operating a vehicle. This causes 60,000 serious injuries and 8,000 deaths a year.

Boston car crashes, truck accidents, bus collisions, and pedestrian accidents are not the only kinds of traffic collisions caused by drowsy driving. The NTSB recently announced that drowsy driving was the likely cause of the deadly MBTA train crash in Newton last year involving two green line trains. The safety board says train operator Terese Edmonds may have fallen asleep at the wheel. She may have been suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.

Excessive sleepiness can impair a motorist, resulting in slower reaction times, distracted driving, decreased cognitive performance, various mood swings, and slowed reflexes. These side effects can prove tragic on the road, where a motorist may have a hard time driving in a straight line, fail to notice exit signs, miss traffic signs, and not realize that he or she is tailgating the vehicle ahead.

While it is tragic that so many people are injured in motor vehicle crashes caused by drowsy drivers, the good news is that drowsy driving accidents are preventable.

The National Sleep Foundation has declared November 2-8 Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. The intention is to make more motorists aware about the dangers associated with drowsy driving and falling asleep at the wheel.

1.9 Million Drivers Have Fatigue-Related Car Crashes or Near Misses Each Year, Reuters, November 2, 2009
Drowsy-driving tragedies preventable, Boston.com, August 3, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Sleep Foundation

Drowsy and Distracted Driving, NHTSA Continue reading

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It’s been eight months since an 82-year-old Dorchester woman died while riding an MBTA escalator. Now, the family of Helen Jackson is suing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for Boston wrongful death. The lawsuit alleges that Jackson died of strangulation when, during a fall accident while riding the escalator, her jacket, scarf, and hair got stuck in the metal machinery.

MBTA officials had implied that Jackson died because she went into cardiac arrest while riding the moving machinery located inside Orange Line’s State Street station. Witnesses, however, say otherwise.

A number of passersby unsuccessfully tried to free Jackson from the escalator, but they could not separate her clothing from the metal. Jackson died at the scene.

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