…that were playing on the bridge? Reported to be playing chicken and tresspassing on the bridge. Well Amtak setteled out of court for an undisclosed amout. I bet it was just enough to buy some drugs.[V]
Anyway here is the storey from Altamont Press curtesy of Larry Grant
Amtrak, families reach settlement over girls’ deaths
The families of two girls who were struck and killed by a passenger train in Kent, Washington six years ago have reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement with Amtrak.
A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the families of Rachel Marturello and Zandra Lafley was to go to trial next month, but the settlement was reached Monday in a conference before U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle. The plaintiffs and Amtrak refused to comment on the settlement.
The lawsuit was considered unusual because wrongful-death cases involving pedestrians struck by trains rarely reach trial, attorneys say. The burden of proof in Washington is high for plaintiffs to win a wrongful-death case: They must prove the train company showed wanton and willful disregard for safety. Rachel Marturello, 11, and her sister, Rebecca, then 14, and friend Zandra Lafley, 13, were walking on a railroad trestle in Kent on April 20, 2000, when they saw a northbound Amtrak train approaching. Rebecca was able to run and jump to safety, but the other two girls were struck and killed.
According to court documents, the engineer saw the girls when he was about a mile away. He blew the whistle, slowed the train and then released the brake when he thought they were out of the way. Apparently confused, the two girls jumped back in front of the train.
The state has no guidelines for engineers to prevent hitting pedestrians.
Amtrak requires only that an engineer sound a warning signal if someone is on the tracks. The assumption is that anyone who hears the signal will get out of the w
Ah, the American way. Do something stupid, find a very good lawyer (if the glove don’t fit, you got to aquit!) and then get paid for doing something stupid. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m waving the flag right now! Think I’ll go to 7-11 get a big slurpee, pour on my head and then sue them for frostbite - $$$.
Maybe I’ll jump of Corning Tower and my parents can sue New York State for making the building too tall. But then again think of the mess that would make.
I swear…People will do ANYTHING to make the railroads look like the bad guy.
PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN! What this thread did is **** me off because it was not the Amtraks fault the girls were killed, it was the girls fault that they were killed.
Girls trespass
Girls get killed by train
Railroad Not at fault
End of story!
Instead of suing Amtrak for something that was out of their control, they could have used the money to PREVENT something like this happening again. I swear, people are so money hungery, they will do ANYTHING to get more.
If I ever meet these parents, I will give them a piece of my mind. Amtrak is suffering enough, don’t make it worse.
I think I read somewhere else that Amtrak had a different procedure for such incidents than the railroad it was operating on and that this was enough for the 9th District Court of Appeals to reverse the lower court’s ruling.
UM I don’t agree with this decision at all. I think I’m going to back up the majority here and say that Amtrak shouldn’t have to pay one cent for this one.
YES It was a terrible accident in which two girls lost their lives.
YES the parents are very upset over this accident.
Who’s Fault is it??? THE GIRLS.
But…NO It wasn’t the railroad’s fault that the train happened to be on the track when the girls were there (Which they shouldn’t have been in the first place).
NO It wasn’t the railroad’s fault that the girls misunderstood the horn and jumped infront of the train instead of totally getting off the tracks.
Maybe the railroads should take down their NO TRESSPASSING signs and put up signs that read, Railroad Property ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. Maybe if signs such as these are up, then the railraods won’t get sued all the time when the tresspasser is at fault.
Dangerous precident, my good man…
I don’t care about how much more it costs to fight (Even though it is a dying amtrak, they should put that in their budget!) things like this just invite people to walk all over them…
When will American’s learn that you MUST be responsible for your Actions? I hope Amtrak does Counter Sue the Parents in this case, we need to stop these frivoles law suits.
As long as we continue to have people who refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions, coupled with trespassing on railroad property whether they are ignorant of the dangers involved or not, there will never be an end to the mindless idea of suing the railroads when someone is either badly hurt or killed outright. And there is always the money factor. A lot of law suits are filed out of pure greed.
I’ll go along with the “cheaper to settle than to fight” comments. Methinks a large number of lawsuits are filed with that conclusion in mind. Loser pays would solve about 90% of those right away…
Many of those settlements are paid by insurance. Keep that in mind next time you pay your house or car insurance…
