Louisville Personal Injury Lawyer - Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)

$15 million settlement in plane crash death

Karl Truman — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:43:13 GMT

The family of a Chicago restaurant executive has settled their lawsuit over a 2006 plane crash that caused his death. In the lawsuit, the family of Michael Waugh accused financial giant Morgan Stanley of operating the plane with a nonprofessional pilot. The $15 million settlement with the estate of the pilot and Morgan Stanley was approved Thursday by a Chicago-area judge. AP, Chicago Tribune 09/03/2009

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karl Truman

More Lawsuits Stem from Kentucky State Zoo Accident

Karl Truman — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:08:00 GMT

Last month’s train wreck at the Louisville Zoo, also known as Kentucky’s State Zoo left approximately 20 of the 30 people aboard the train injured when it derailed. Most of the passengers aboard the board were children-including a two year old who obtained a broken leg and head lacerations as a result of the accident.

The train was designed to transport passengers in a two mile loop around the zoo. The ride was closed while the Kentucky Department of Agriculture launched its investigation.

Among the first lawsuits to be filed in the Jefferson Circuit Court was a family from Charleston, Indiana. The suit alleged the zoo was negligent in its maintenance and operation of the train. The Associated Content reported:

The claim seeks both monetary damages and a restraining order to prohibit the zoo from altering the scene after the KDA finishing its investigation.

Since then, more plaintiffs have come forward with similar allegations. The Courier-Journal reported that:

While two previous lawsuits have named the Louisville Zoo as a defendant, the third suit instead focuses on a zoo employee, Mary Coffey, who was operating the train, and Chance Rides Manufacturing Inc., which designed, manufactured and sold the train to the zoo, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs allege that the train was unsafe and Chance was negligent in selling the train to the zoo in "a defective and unreasonable dangerous condition."

The train’s operator was reported to be 18, the minimum age required to operate the train. Both driver error and equipment malfunction are being considered in determining the cause of the accident.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karl Truman

San Francisco Train Accident Leaves 48 Injured

Karl Truman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:08:11 GMT

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 48 people were injured Saturday afternoon when an L-Train smashed into the rear of a K-train at the West Portal Station. Both trains were heading outbound, but the K-train had stopped. Of the 48 injured, 4 are reported to have serious injuries, although not life threatening.

The most seriously injured was the driver of the L-train, who was conscious when paramedics arrived, said Deputy Fire Chief Pat Gardner. Three riders were also severely injured, authorities said.

Twenty-four people suffered serious injuries and were also taken to local hospitals by ambulance, authorities said. The remaining injuries were minor, and the victims were able to walk to a Muni bus that took them to the hospital.

Just last month, 9 people died when a Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at during rush hour. The AP reported that:

The crash took place on the system's red line, Metro's busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the accident site near the Maryland border in northeast Washington.

Metro chief John Catoe said the first train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when the trailing train, one of the oldest in the Metro fleet, plowed into it from behind.

Officials had no explanation for the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board took charge of the investigation and sent a team to the site. DC police and the FBI also had investigators at the scene to help search the wreckage for any overlooked injured or dead passengers and evidence.

Millions of Americans rely on mass transit to commute. There has been some speculation that a federal safety investigation may be launched to determine if the sudden frequency of such accidents are user error or if the nation’s railcars and signal devices are in need up updates.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karl Truman

Exxon Valdez to Pay Interest on Punative Damage Award

Karl Truman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:37:50 GMT

The 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held on Monday that the plaintiffs, mostly seafood and fishing companies and the defendant, Exxon Valdez should have to pay their own legal expenses incurred for the appeals stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. However, the panel ruled 2-1 that Exxon Valdez should have to pay the interest on the punative damage award of $507.5 million.

Roughly 33,000 people were plaintiffs in the lawsuit from the initial lawsuit that was filed two decades ago, it’s been reported that Exxon has begun repaying the victims last year.

Initially, the punative damages award of $5 billion was later reduced down to $507.5 million in 2008 by the U.S. Supreme Court which held that a ratio of 1:1 was the upper limits for punitive damages under maritime law. The U.S. Supreme Court directed the decision on the interest to the appellate court.

Bloomberg News reported:

The victims are entitled to interest at the rate of 5.9 percent accruing from 1996, when the original damage award was made final, the U.S. Court of Appeals said today. Jeffrey Fisher, an attorney for the victims, said that formula comes to about $500 million in interest.

In addition the punative damage award, Exxon Valdez estimated the cleanup cost for the oil spill to have cost the company $3.4 billion and the legal fees incurred to be roughly $70 million.

The oil spill occurred on March 23, 1989, when the vessel carrying 53 million gallons of oil crashed into a reef. Over 11 million tons of oil was dumped into the Price Williams Sound destroying local businesses and wildlife. The ship’s caption, Joseph Hazelwood was accused of being intoxicated at the time of the incident. He was never criminally charged, but was convicted of negligently discharging oil, a misdemeanor. He was fined $50,000 and given 1,000 hours of community service.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Karl Truman