April
3, 2001
LLOYD
& CAVANAGH FILES LAWSUIT AFTER DEADLY 1999 TRAIN CRASH
News Article
Available
On
April 4, 2001, Timothy J. Cavanagh, partner in the law firm
of Lloyd & Cavanagh, filed a Complaint at Law against
a local railroad company for the death of sixteen year old
Arvin Rao. Arvin was a passenger in a car that was struck
by a freight train operated by Elgin, Joliet & Eastern
Railway Company on April 11, 1999. The lawsuit is entitled
Muralidhara Rao, Individually and as Administrator of the
Estate of Arvin Rao v. Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway
Company, No. 99 L 11088. The case is assigned to Judge
David Donnersberger in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The
lawsuit alleges that the railroad was negligent for not
providing crossing gate arms at the railroad crossing on
Illinois Route 34 in Aurora, IL despite the fact that the
Illinois Commerce Commission recommended the addition of
crossing gate arms in April, 1997, two years before the
collision. The lawsuit also alleges that the railroad should
have slowed its trains down or provided a flagman at the
crossing until the crossing gate arms were provided. Several
months after this deadly collision, the railroad finally
provided crossing gate arms at the Route 34 crossing. The
lawsuit seeks unspecified money damages.
