Injured
Family's Case Against Railroad Opens
(As
reported in the Daily Herald, Friday, February
1, 2002)
By Justin Kmitch
Daily Herald Staff Writer
A
railroad company Wednesday accepted responsibility for an
accident a year ago in Bloomingdale that severely injured
a Carol Stream woman and her parents.
However,
the Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad said it
was not responsible for several injuries the victims blame
on the crash.
Attorneys
gave opening statements Wednesday to a jury in Cook County
circuit court in Chicago in the lawsuit the family filed
against the railroad.
Railroad
attorney John Kelly insisted the company was at fault for
not properly securing the malfunctioning railroad crossing
at Army Trail Road, just west of Gary Avenue, on Jan. 9,
2001, when the accident happened.
The
warning gates did not go down as the train approached because
road salt kept the sensors from working correctly, he said.
The railroad had issued a warning to train crews to stop
before going through the crossing, but the crew of the train
involved in the accident was incorrectly told the warning
had been rescinded, the railroad admitted.
Kelly
also told the jury the accident might have been avoided
if the railroad had taken standard safety measures, including
manually blocking the crossing as the train went through.
But
he contended the driver could have avoided the accident
if she had paid more attention to her surroundings.
"Some
witnesses heard the train's horns and whistles as it approached
the crossing and were cautious enough to stop and look,"
Kelly said.
Lilia
Apuello, 40, was driving west on Army Trail Road and over
the crossing with her parents when the freight train pulling
63 cars went through the crossing and struck her sport utility
vehicle at about 50 mph.
Apuello
suffered a brain injury that has left her almost helpless
and a broken wrist, her attorney, Terry Lavin, said. He
described Apuello as being "like a four-year-old lost
at the mall."
Her
parents, Francisca and Fidel Velarde, both now 73, also
suffered severe brain injuries in the crash, said their
attorney, Tim Cavanagh.
Lavin
said Apuello could not have seen the train as it approached
from the southeast because of trees blocking the tracks.
He also disputed whether the train's horn was sounded in
enough time to give drivers advance warning.
Cavanagh
said the accident has left the once-active Velardes homebound
and unable to be left alone. Francesca Velarde, he said,
suffered severe memory loss and cannot do many simple tasks.
Her husband, he said, mumbles incoherently because of the
mild traumatic brain injuries he suffered.
The
family is asking for an unspecified amount of money from
the railroad. The family's medical bills have exceeded hundreds
of thousands of dollars, their attorneys said.
Kelly,
however, said he plans to prove to the jury that both Francisca
and Fidel Velarde aggravated pre-existing conditions in
the accident. Francisca Velarde, Kelly said, already had
lost some memory and had slow motor skills because of uncontrolled
diabetes. Fidel Velarde aggravated a brain injury he suffered
in 1997 when he had a stroke, Kelly said.
The
trial will continue today. Attorneys expect it to last at
least two weeks.
