FLORIDA’S DEADLY RAILROAD CROSSINGS

Over the past two decades, Kaire & Heffernan has helped hundreds of Florida citizens injured as pedestrians, bicyclists, motor vehicle drivers and passengers.  Now there is another risk for Floridians as people are being killed at Florida railroad crossings almost weekly.

In the U.S., a train hits a person or vehicle every three (3) hours, according to a Forbes report.  The study revealed more than 10,700 highway related railroad accidents in one year.  One in four resulted in personal injuries and 1 in 10 in a fatality. 

Since the Brightline began running in South Florida in 2017, more than a dozen pedestrians have been killed.  Injury Claim Coach, a company which provides advice on personal injuries, conducted a Railroad Crossing Study in which they analyzed data from the Federal Railroad Administration from 2014 to 2018.  Florida which had 462 total reported Railroad related accidents in that four (4) year span is the 6^th highest among the states for railroad related accidents.  Texas was the most dangerous state followed by California and Illinois. 

Of the 462 railroad accidents in Florida 16% resulted in fatalities and 25% resulted in injury.  Florida ranks no. 11 for states with train accidents causing death and 27^th in states, for accidents causing injuries.  65% of the fatal accidents involved trains and pedestrians and motorcycles accounted for 29%.  There were 76 train fatalities along the East coast of Florida between Miami and Jacksonville during a three year period.  According to the Injury Claim Coach analysis “In Florida, many train related deaths are linked to urban low income areas where pedestrians live near railroads and may feel less inclined to heed safety precautions.

Suicides and attempted suicides only account for 2% of the reported accidents.  As high speed train services such as the Virgin/Brightline between Miami and West Palm bring high speed trains through heavily congested areas such as Downtown, measures must be taken to make these crossings safer or the numbers of fatalities and injuries will continue to rise. 

There are many federal railway regulations and standards which address the appropriate safety measures required to be in place at railroad crossings.  To hold the railways responsible for causing injury or death, it is imperative to retain a law firm which is well versed in these requirements, like Kaire & Heffernan, LLC.