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The Pedestrian Issue:

By Pottroff & Karlin LLC | railroad news

Highway-railroad grade crossing accidents are both common, and deadly. Everyone, at some point, must cross...

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“Big Ten” States Start Calling Shots On Grade Crossing Safety Plans In August

By Pottroff & Karlin LLC | railroad news

(Washington, D.C., June 29. 2010) Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas €“ the states with the most grade crossing accidents, on average, over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, have until August 27, 2011 to develop and implement their own (apart from the national) grade crossing safety plans which will then cover the next five years. The ruling was handed down by the USDOT's Federal Railroad Administration following a February 22, 2010 public hearing in Washington, after the U. S.

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Pedestrian killed by MBTA train at pedestrian crossing

By Pottroff & Karlin LLC | railroad news

A 63-year-old retired police officer was killed by an MBTA commute train on Saturday. He was crossing the tracks on a pedestrian crosswalk.

According to one witness, the victim "stepped inside the fence where you are supposed to stand, and he must have made a misstep, and the train clipped him."

Yet MBTA's preliminary investigation of their own accident has predictably concluded that the man was walking out in from of the train. 

 

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Disabled pedestrian hit by train at railroad crossing

By Pottroff & Karlin LLC | railroad news

A 67 year old man of Keyser, West Virginia was struck and killed by a freight train Wednesday night.  The wheels of the disabled man's scooter became stuck in between the rail and the asphalt at the crossing.  Though he struggled to move the scooter, he was unable to get unstuck before an approaching freight train collided with the man and killed him.

The crossing itself is outfitted with a protective gate, though it is unclear how long the man was stuck on the tracks before struck by the train.

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Accident victim and two rescuers nearly hit by Metrolink train

By Pottroff & Karlin LLC | railroad news

A truck became stuck on railroad tracks at a crossing after an accident earlier today. Two firefighters came on scene to rescue the man, when the crossing gates began coming down, signaling an approaching train. The firefighters, who were holding the head of the injured man, had to rush him off the tracks, narrowly escaping the approaching Metrolink train by seconds, after which it crushed the truck.

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