LAWYER
SAYS MISMANAGED SAFETY PRECAUTIONS TO BLAME FOR TRAIN-CAR
WRECK
(As reported in Chicago Sun-Times)
By Alice Hohl
Staff Writer
February 8, 2001
Allegations
of shoddy work at a Homewood railroad center are at the
center of a high-stakes lawsuit, lawyers for a couple hit
by a train said Wednesday.
Homewood
is the headquarters of a dispatching center for Canadian
National and Illinois Central Railroad Company, where radio
workers communicate with train conductors and engineers
in several Chicago-area regions.
Lawyers
for an Addison couple — Fidel and Francisca Velarde, both
72, who were seriously injured when the Ford Explorer they
were riding in was struck by a freight train last month
— are suing the rail line.
A
spokesman for Canadian National and Illinois Central said
the incident that caused the wreck was an isolated one and
no problems exist at the Homewood Center.
Tim
Cavanagh, who represents the Velardes, said recently unveiled
audio tapes prove a dispatcher gave incorrect instructions
to a train conductor, overriding a safety precaution.
According
to documents obtained in the lawsuit, an order was in effect
the morning of the crash instructing trains to stop at some
designated grade crossings where signals weren't working
right.
One
of those intersections was Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale.
Jack
Burke, spokesman for the rail line, said several safety
gates weren't working, and some track switches were malfunctioning
too, because of weather conditions.
Three
rail crossings in Bloomingdale were malfunctioning the morning
of Jan. 9, and train workers were supposed to stop at the
crossings, according to a copy of the "general order."
Maintenance
crews repaired two of the crossings, but had not yet serviced
the Army Trail crossing as a train was passing through the
area, according to a transcript of the audio tapes provided
by Cavanaugh's office.
But
when the train's conductor called into the Homewood dispatching
center, he was told the Army Trail crossing was in working
order.
"Any
change on our stop and protect order at (the Army Trail
mile marker)?" the conductor asked.
"Yeah,
it's been repaired," the dispatched responded, according
to the transcript.
"Been
repaired. All right," the conductor confirmed.
But
the crossing gates were not working correctly, and as the
freight train barreled through at 50 miles per hour, the
warning signals didn't activate and the gates didn't come
down, according to several witnesses interviewed by police.
A
school bus was stopped at the crossing, blocking view of
the tracks. Lilia Apulello, the Velarde couple's daughter
and the driver of the Explorer, could not see the train,
according to police reports.
As
Apulello passed the school bus and crossed the tracks, the
train slammed into the SUV. Only after the impact did the
gates finally close.
Fidel
Velarde suffered severe head injuries, and is scheduled
to undergo brain surgery. The Velardes' son, Jerry, said
both his parents are in extreme pain, and his sister is
having difficulty recovering from emotional trauma.
"We
all pray that my parents and my sister recover," said
Jerry Velarde, 26, also of Addison.
"I
just wish this will never happen again."
Cavanaugh's
lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, but the firm won a similar
lawsuit in September 2000, and a woman struck by a freight
train from the same rail line was awarded $9.1 million.
Burke,
speaking for the rail line, said he did not want to try
the case in the media, but he objected to the law firm's
suggestion there are ongoing problems at the Homewood center.
"That's
just mistake in logic to go from one specific incident to
a gross generalization," Burke said.
Burke
said Jan. 9 was "not a standard day," with weather-related
problems causing a number of challenges for rail crews.
"We
had a series of problems caused by warm weather melting
snow," he said. "They were out there working at
the time."
John
Nisivaco, who represents Apullelo, said work at the Homewood
center was to blame for the accident.
"At
the least, it's sloppy. I think sloppy is an understatement,"
he said.
Burke
said railroads are subject to weather, and problems are
the nature of the game when weather conditions are bad.
"Our
signals do not normally have this sort of problem,"
he said. "Railroading is an outdoor endeavor; it is
subject to the elements."
