Galen Stoller was killed at a railroad crossing when an Amtrak train hit his car

Question

Galen Stoller was killed at a railroad crossing when an Amtrak train hit his car. The crossing was marked with a stop sign and a railroad-crossing symbol but there were no flashing lights. Galen’s parents filed a suit against National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad Corp alleg- ing negligence in the design and maintenance of the cross- ing. The defendants argued that Galen had not stopped at the stop sign. Was Amtrak negligent? What was the proxi- mate cause of the accident? [Henderson v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 2011 WL 14458 (10th Cir. 2011)] (See Negligence.)

Explanation / Answer

In the above case Amtrak did not take proper care hence was negligent. This is because flashing light was not there. Flashing lights forcefully gives the signal to stop or go while the written signal may not be forceful. One has to read the board and suppose if the driver did not get attention then he or she will not read the board. It has to be present at such site where danger is more. Proximity cause is associated with this case. In this particular case Amtrak failed to offer the flashing light due to negligence and hence it has failed in his duty and because of this negligence Galen Stroller was killed.

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