Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)

• Railroaders dismounting off of moving equipment in the past is basis for FELA (Federal Employers' Liability Act) claims today.

  John Cooper | May 14, 2007 3:18 PM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  Until the 1980's and 1990's, the major U.S. freight railroads routinely had train crews getting on and off moving railcars.At different times they used this dangerous practice at CSX and Norfolk Southern and the predecessor railroads like Conrail. Even after the railroad made a new rule saying it was dangerous to get off and on moving equipment, it took awhile for the practice to stop...

• All Railroad Employees Should Be Aware Of The Developing Area of "Cumulative Trauma" Injuries

  Rick Shapiro | April 27, 2007 4:54 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, Chesapeake & Suffolk, VA

  A growing number of locomotive engineers have successfully pursued FELA claims against their employers based upon excessive vibrations found in locomotives. These claims are related to various long term maintenance issues (i.e. poorly maintained track, altered or poorly maintained locomotive seats, etc.). While transportation employees may be subject to locomotive cab vibration, they also face...

• Transport of Nuclear Power Plant Waste By Railroad Still A Thorny Issue

  Rick Shapiro | April 16, 2007 9:30 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, Chesapeake & Suffolk, VA

  We still have many nuclear power plants around the United States that are generating nuclear waste, nearly all in the form of spent nuclear fuel rods. Also, the United States has a continuing problem with where to store the low-level nuclear waste in the form of these spent fuel rods. The problem has been for decades that no state in our United States wants to accept the waste from the nuclear...

• Fatal Railroad Crash Caused By Fatigued Crew

  John Cooper | March 27, 2007 3:06 PM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  The National Transportation Safety Board finally acknowledged in March of 2007 that a overtired transportation crew was the reason for a head on collision of two freight trains in Mississippi almost two years ago that killed four people. This train wreck involved the failure of a crew to comply with the stop signal. The four people killed were the two crew members on each train. The final...

• Coal Train Derails But No one Hurt

  John Cooper | March 23, 2007 11:34 AM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  On March 19, 2007, a Norfolk Southern coal train derailed in Suffolk, VA. At 2:00 a.m., the train with 4 locomotives was traveling at 40 mph when 37 of the 148 cars left the track. The train wreck left a pile of twisted metal and tons of coal on the ground and cutoff the power to 1,000 customers.According to the news release, there were no injuries or any release of hazardous material. The...

• KCS Railroad Pays 37.5 Million Dollars for Crossing Injuries and Death

  Rick Shapiro | January 20, 2007 5:01 PM | 0 CommentsVirginia Beach, Chesapeake & Suffolk, VA

  An amazing story of a railroad's careless conduct and the intense and lifelong consequences of such carelessness arose out of a recent 37.5 Million Dollar settlement that Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS) paid in October, 2006. I personally spoke with Tom Jones, one of the several trial lawyers with Davis, Bethune and Jones, who represented the entire family that was tragically injured...

• Train Disaster In Kentucky Shows Bad CSX Safety

  John Cooper | January 16, 2007 4:55 PM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  There was a huge fireball as a CSX freight train crashed south of Louisville, Kentucky today.CSX, as one of the two East coast railroad companies, puts many communities at risk. This freight train derailed with tank cars containing hazardous material forcing the evacuation of residents in Bullitt County. Our firm has represented victims of railroad train wrecks for years. We are currently...

• " Injured Railroad Workers Get to Chose the Court in FELA Claims Against Railroad Employers for On-Duty Accidents."

  John Cooper | December 21, 2006 3:54 PM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) is unique in that it provides railroad employees with several choices of courts in which to file and try their cases. The FELA gives jurisdiction over cases brought under its provision to both state and federal courts. This is commonly known as "concurrent jurisdiction". This means the plaintiff (employee) can file his or her case in either a...

• " Injured Railroad Workers Get to Chose the Court in FELA Claims Against Railroad Employers for On-Duty Accidents."(2)

  John Cooper | December 21, 2006 3:54 PM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) is unique in that it provides railroad employees with several choices of courts in which to file and try their cases. The FELA gives jurisdiction over cases brought under its provision to both state and federal courts. This is commonly known as "concurrent jurisdiction". This means the plaintiff (employee) can file his or her case in either a...

• Railroad Defense Bullies

  John Cooper | October 25, 2006 11:13 AM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  It never ceases to amaze me how attorneys representing big corporations like CSX Railroad will try to bully and threaten the injured worker and his attorney only to give in in the end when faced with clear law in favor of the little guy.One example of this bluster by railroad defense attorneys has to do with getting a copy of the accident report in an injured railroad worker's case. Over the...