San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Train accidents can be deadly, and sometimes cannot be prevented. Often times, the conductor may fail to see the vehicle or person on the tracks, or sees them too late to hit the brakes. Other times, trespassers or pedestrians may cross the tracks in an attempt to get to the other side before the train reaches them, but are unsuccessful. There were five fatal accidents occurring in the Bay Area between Wednesday, June 3, 2009 and Saturday, June 6, 2009 involving Caltrain and Amtrack trains. If you have been injured by a train, you need to contact Greenberg & Rudman LLP immediately for a free consultation at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO).

On Wednesday, a seventeen year old girl, Sonya Raymakers from Gunn High School in Palo Alto was fatally struck at the East Meadow Drive crossing. Then, on Thursday morning, a man was killed by an Amtrak train in Berkeley. Investigators are reporting that it was an apparent suicide. Later on Thursday, Vida Silver was killed when her 100 pound pit bull pulled her by his leash across the tracks in Hayward. She and the dog were hit and killed by the Amtrak Capitol Corridor train. On Friday afternoon near San Jose’s Diridon station, a bicyclist was fatally struck on the tracks. The unidentified bicyclist went under the lowered crossing gates after the northbound Caltrain had passed, but was struck by the southbound train. Then on Saturday, Richard Steven Collins of Richmond was hit and killed by the Capital Corridor Caltrain at 10:45 a.m. Investigators have reported that he likely thought the train was a slow moving freight train and failed to move out of the way even though the conductor blew the horn. The accident happened at the Gilman Street crossing in Berkeley.

Although many of these accidents may have been preventable, if there is negligence or recklessness found on the part of the parties, the victims’ families may be able to sue for wrongful death. The details of each case are very important to the success of the case. The attorneys at Greenberg & Rudman LLP handle cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you will pay no costs unless we win the case for you. Don’t be fooled by other firms who sign up your case but are not prepared to fight for you and take your case to trial. Call us now at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) to speak to an attorney—we have over 50 years of combined experience. Click on this link to go to our website, www.alawpro.com to read more about our attorneys and train accidents.

Want to know more about train accidents? Then go to Part 1: CALTRAIN AND OTHER TRAIN ACCIDENTS MAY RESULT IN DEATH, OR SERIOUS INJURY—CALL SAN FRANCISCO PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS NOW (Part 1 of 2)