Kam heute im Trains Newsletter:
Widow files suit against Metrolink
LOS ANGELES - The widow of the sheriff's deputy who died in a Metrolink chain-reaction derailment in Glendale on January 26 filed a lawsuit Monday against the commuter agency, alleging that the train her husband was riding in was unsafe because its locomotive was in the rear, according to a story published in the Los Angeles Times and other news sources. James Tutino was riding in a train that lacked "adequate safeguards" because it was being pushed rather than pulled by a locomotive, according to the lawsuit filed by his widow, Rita Kay Tutino.
"This tragedy occurred because the train was in push-mode," said Tutino's lawyer, Jerome Ringler, who is representing about a dozen other plaintiffs over the derailment that killed 11 passengers and injured about 180 others.
Some rail safety experts say trains pulled by a locomotive, rather than pushed, are safer because the locomotive provides added protection for passengers in a head-on collision. They also say that pushed trains are more likely to derail because the cab car in front, lighter than a locomotive, can be derailed more easily. Others say the research is not conclusive and that having a locomotive in front at all times would either be too costly or not feasible.
Eleven counts of murder with "special circumstances" were filed against Juan Manuel Alvarez, 25, who authorities said appeared to originally have been trying to commit suicide after driving his car onto the tracks. An investigation later determined that Alvarez was trying to gain the attention of his wife, Carmelita Alvarez. The couple had separated, and Alvarez's wife had obtained a restraining order against him.
According to authorities, Alvarez drove his car onto the tracks and then stood nearby and watched as the vehicle was hit shortly after 6 a.m. by southbound Metrolink train 100, which then derailed and started a deadly chain reaction with a Metrolink train passing in the opposite direction, as well as a parked Union Pacific ballast train. It was the nation's deadliest train accident in nearly six years.
:c) :c) :=( :=(
Ist ja schlimm, was dort passiert ist. Aber wieder typisch Ami's, dass jetzt die Bahn verklagt wird, weil sie Wendezüge einsetzt. Normaler Erlös wären jetzt wohl 5-10 Mille.
Grüße