FELA Lawsuit

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, a train derailment accident occurs somewhere in the U.S. on average every five hours. In 2007, 1,696 train derailments occurred nationwide from all railroad companies, down from 1,982 in 2006. Nationally, Union Pacific had 1,722 hazardous material releases, and 215 hazardous material cars were damaged or derailed.

However, Mark Davis, a Union Pacific spokesman, said that not all derailments are reported. “The pure definition of a derailment is when one wheel is off the rail,” and there is no way to know how many do not get reported. Davis said that derailments are not good for business. They delay the delivery of customer’s goods and raise safety issues.

A total of 15 railroad employee fatalities were reported nationwide in 2007, up from 12 killed in 2006, but down from a 10 year high of 31 railroad worker deaths in 1999. The FRA reports that 15,842 Union Pacific Railroad employees were injured on the job between 1998 to 2008.

To learn more, contact the FELA Lawsuit Attorneys at Williams Kherkher at 1.800.220.9341.