It’s been more than two weeks since that Amtrak train crashed into a semitrailer truckload near Halifax, North Carolina. And yet, there is still no clear indication of why it occurred.
We know the what. News stories cite official reports as saying that the Amtrak train came around a bend in the track to find the truck and its oversize load straddling the rail crossing. With no time to stop, the train crashed into the truck.
Fifty-five people ended up going to the hospital, including an 85-year-old woman. Her children say their mom suffered injuries to her liver and she lost a foot of her intestines. Her current condition isn’t clear.
The woman’s adult children are distraught. But making things worse is that no one has provided any answers to the question, how could this happen?
The situation shows exactly why victims of accidents and their loved ones owe it to themselves to be working with an experienced personal injury attorney. It is to uphold the rights of victims in determining where liability rests and to hold those responsible accountable for the pain and suffering that resulted.
This is obviously not the first time this kind of accident has occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board says it’s been fighting to improve safety at rail crossings for the past 47 years. It can recommend, but can’t make rules. Officials say that in those 47 years there have been 144 crashes that have left 6,500 people injured and 300 dead. They say all of them could have been avoided if technology recommendations had been adopted.
But other experts say something a lot simpler than that could have prevented this crash. All it required was some communication and coordination between the truck and the railroad. It turns out, no federal or state rules require it and, at this point, it doesn’t appear any occurred. No one is accepting responsibility and the investigation continues.
Is it any wonder that the children of the 85-year-old victim of this crash are upset?