California Rail Crash That Killed 26 May Test $200 Million Damage Cap
With 26 dead and over 130 injured, the law capping cumulative passenger claims from a single railroad accident at $200 million may come into play. The $200 million cap includes punitive damages as well, thus any damages to punish the train company for gross negligent or evil conduct is limited as well.
On September 12, a commuter train collided with a freight train due to operator error. Apparently, the conductor of the commuter train failed to obey a signal to stop and let the freight train pass- an error that led to the head-on collision. There are also reports that the engineer was text messaging right before the accident, calling the engineer's attention into question. California already has a law that bans cell phones while driving, but currently has no text messaging law into effect, though they are planning on implementing one as early as January 1st. It seems unclear whether these laws would apply to trains as a vehicle.
The discussion on damage caps is furthered by an article written by Angela Greiling Keane, and can be found at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=atdVFHzijRhk&refer=us.
Though train accidents and lawsuits are not uncommon, this may be the largest claim on record to date. As the deadliest train accident since 1993, we can only hope that the families of the victims are compensated appropriately for their losses, though no monetary gain will ever replaced the loved ones lost.
