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Ottawa attorneys lay blame on Via for bus-train crash
This lawsuit should not hold water. VIA was slowing for the stop at Fallowfield, and the municipality had made it a quiet zone. VIA should have no fault.
They have scheisters in Canada also. Sad!
Once again we have an example of poor English usage, eg. “the bus and train collided…” The sooner the case against VIA is dismissed the better since the bus driver was negligent.
Are there any lawyers who read these articles and comments? If there are, would one of them be so kind as to explain why there is an appearance of utter contempt for truth and justice amongst the legal profession, and that anything goes if it makes you rich? I’d really like to know. Once upon a time lawyers were held in high esteem. Now? Somewhere below used car salesmen.
Please… someone explain?
It’s unfortunate that VIA will likely have to spend thousands of dollars to ‘defend’ itself in a case where it has already been exonerated by the TSB.
The City of Ottawa’s legal tactic of stating it bears no fault will not succeed and will only prolong the process. CN (previous owner of the track) told the city many years ago that the adjacent Woodroffe Avenue, and by extension the parallel transitway, required a grade separation. The city opted to ignore CN and save money by keeping the existing level crossings.
The lawyers will be the only beneficiaries of the protracted court proceedings. This will likely go on for several years.
News like this makes me believe that 98.98989% of all lawyers give the rest a bad name.
Everyone hates lawyers until they need one. The city’s lawyers job is to defend the city as best they can, no matter how far-fetched the defense. Never forget that the Ottawa public officials will have to say they believe that BS under oath, not the lawyers.
I thought lawsuits like this were only possible in the U.S.
JS from NY: Amen to your comment.
DB from Ga.: I’ve seen that noun meaning unethical lawyer spelled differently.
AFL from Wisc.:No comment from you concerning “scheister?”
Apparently, according to the story, all the railroad facilities were working at the time of this accident. If that is so who put the bus on the tracks? The railroad? Fact: the bus driver was the only person who put the bus in harms way.
Canada is the same as the United States. Lawsuits can be started for any reason, for any amount at any time. There are very few financially poor lawyers. Perhaps all operating crews should file a class action suit claiming that our reputation has been damaged by these unfounded claims. How do you start a lawsuit against a lawyer?
Any lawyer that files a suit like that ought to be billed for court costs and legal fees for their opposition if they lose, and if they can’t pay, they get lynched. Just a momentary comedic thought THAT IS NOT MEANT to be taken seriously in any way, shape, or form, and unfortunately, NO lawyers were harmed in the composition of this post (sarcasm).
Seems that the Ottawa city attorneys are attempting to contradict TSB-Canada’s findings; suppose the bureaucrats to counter-sue those attorneys. Gosh, this could be fun!
I just happened to arrive at the corner of Fallowfield and Woodruf just as the ambulance and fire trucks were arriving at the scene of the “accident” If you google Fallowfield Road and Woodruf Ave. Ottawa Ont. and look just to the north you will see the crossing of the transit way and the Via tracks. If you zoom in on the crossing you will note the lines of bush on both sides of the transit way. A few days after the “accident” the lines of bush were cleared, allowing a much clearer line of site from the curve toward the via tracks. The Bus was headed North and the Train West. The weather was clear and bright, a beautiful late summer day. Oh and if you follow the tracks West past the station, note the set of of stop lights just beyond the track signal lights. There has been a recent near miss at this crossing. In fact I have been behind a bus which stooped just in time to have the signal arm come down on it as the train was coming. Unfortunately I did not have my dash cam yet to record the event. Yes Canada is fast catching up in law suits and the like.
VIA has no responsibility for this accident; the City was warned years ago by CN that they needed to build a separation between the tracks and the roadway and bus lane. They chose not to which implicates them as partly responsible. Obviously human error was a major contributing factor and the driver (RIP) is not here to defend himself.