AmtrakerBx
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2002
- Messages
- 44
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Amtrak engineer sues trucker, CSX, Amtrak
The engineer of the Amtrak passenger train that smashed into a logging truck last May is suing for his injuries.
Frank L. Coates, 52, filed the lawsuit in South Carolina’s Jasper County Courthouse last week. The Pamplico, S.C. railroader’s lawsuit says the trucking company, Transport Inc., and its driver, Eric McKinney as well as track owner CSX Railroad were negligent, according to a report from The AP.
On May 14, the 10-car New York to Miami Silver Meteor was carrying 103 passengers and 14 crewmembers when it struck McKinney’s truck near Ridgeland. The train was traveling 79 mph when it hit the rear quarter of the fully loaded logging truck.
McKinney was charged in May with failure to yield the right of way to a train.
No passengers were killed or critically injured. Coates suffered a permanent knee injury and has undergone surgery, but hasn’t returned to work, his lawyer, W. Mullins McLeod Jr. of Charleston, said.
The truck was at a crossing on U.S. 17 near Interstate 95. There are neither crossing arms nor signals, sources said. The lawsuit states Amtrak and CSX knew that crossing was “hazardous due to excessive vegetation, severe sight restrictions, severe horizontal curves, poor drainage, loose dirt and gravel... and slow-moving logging trucks.”
It’s hard for locomotive engineers to see trucks and it’s hard for the truck drivers to see the train, McLeod said.
Coates’ lawsuit also argues Transport Inc. hired an inexperienced driver, McKinney didn’t pay attention, CSX didn’t maintain a safe rail crossing, and Amtrak failed to provide a safe work environment.
In May, McKinney said he didn’t hear or see the train in time to stop. “That’s the reason he hit me; that’s the reason he needs to learn to start blowing the horn,” he said then.
McKinney, who had worked in that area irregularly for six months, said he only saw the train as he reached the tracks.
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Amtrak engineer sues trucker, CSX, Amtrak
The engineer of the Amtrak passenger train that smashed into a logging truck last May is suing for his injuries.
Frank L. Coates, 52, filed the lawsuit in South Carolina’s Jasper County Courthouse last week. The Pamplico, S.C. railroader’s lawsuit says the trucking company, Transport Inc., and its driver, Eric McKinney as well as track owner CSX Railroad were negligent, according to a report from The AP.
On May 14, the 10-car New York to Miami Silver Meteor was carrying 103 passengers and 14 crewmembers when it struck McKinney’s truck near Ridgeland. The train was traveling 79 mph when it hit the rear quarter of the fully loaded logging truck.
McKinney was charged in May with failure to yield the right of way to a train.
No passengers were killed or critically injured. Coates suffered a permanent knee injury and has undergone surgery, but hasn’t returned to work, his lawyer, W. Mullins McLeod Jr. of Charleston, said.
The truck was at a crossing on U.S. 17 near Interstate 95. There are neither crossing arms nor signals, sources said. The lawsuit states Amtrak and CSX knew that crossing was “hazardous due to excessive vegetation, severe sight restrictions, severe horizontal curves, poor drainage, loose dirt and gravel... and slow-moving logging trucks.”
It’s hard for locomotive engineers to see trucks and it’s hard for the truck drivers to see the train, McLeod said.
Coates’ lawsuit also argues Transport Inc. hired an inexperienced driver, McKinney didn’t pay attention, CSX didn’t maintain a safe rail crossing, and Amtrak failed to provide a safe work environment.
In May, McKinney said he didn’t hear or see the train in time to stop. “That’s the reason he hit me; that’s the reason he needs to learn to start blowing the horn,” he said then.
McKinney, who had worked in that area irregularly for six months, said he only saw the train as he reached the tracks.
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