December
15 , 2005
FEDERAL
COURT JUDGE APPROVES $1.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT
IN FATAL AMTRAK GRADE CROSSING COLLISION
On December 15, 2005, Judge Paul E. Plunkett of the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois approved
a $1.5 million settlement in favor of a Dwight, Illinois
man whose 12 year-old daughter, Ryan Stalling, was killed
in a railroad grade crossing crash with an Amtrak train
on January 14, 2001. The suit was brought by Gregory Stalling,
Ryan Stalling's father, against the Union Pacific Railroad
Co. and National Passenger Railroad Co. d/b/a Amtrak. The
collision occurred at the Livingston Road crossing, a rural
railroad crossing located in Dwight, Illinois on the Union
Pacific's Chicago to St. Louis train line. The train involved
in the collision was owned and operated by Amtrak and was
traveling at approximately 77 mph at the time it collided
with the Stalling vehicle.
The
Livingston Road crossing was owned by Union Pacific which
was also a defendant in the case. At the time of the collision,
the Livingston Road crossing was unguarded and did not have
automatic gates, bells or lights. The crossing was only
equipped with a crossbuck sign. The Plaintiff alleged that
Union Pacific and Amtrak were negligent for failing to install
automatic gates and lights at the crossing despite several
sight obstructions, such as buildings and farm equipment,
in the critical quadrant of the crossing that obstructed
a motorist's view of the approaching train. Plaintiff also
alleged that Amtrak was negligent for failing to slow the
train before the crash and for failing to sound the train
horn on approach to the Livingston Road crossing. Specifically,
a passenger on the train testified that he did not hear
the train horn sound on approach to the crossing.
The
Plaintiff retained four experts in this matter, a traffic
engineer, a railroad accident reconstructionist, a railroad
train engineer, and an audiologist to evaluate and reconstruct
the incident. Each of Plaintiff's experts specializes in
railroad grade crossing collision cases and are regarded
as leading experts in this technical field.
The
Plaintiffs were represented by Timothy J. Cavanagh and Matthew
M. Rundio of the law firm of LLOYD & CAVANAGH in Chicago,
Illinois. Lead counsel for Plaintiff, Timothy J. Cavanagh,
commented on the settlement as follows: "Amtrak and
the Union Pacific, by their negligence, took Gregory Stalling's
beautiful, fun, and energetic 12 year-old daughter, Ryan,
from him in a matter of seconds. Ryan meant everything to
Greg and losing her has absolutely devastated him. Ryan's
senseless death could have been avoided had the Union Pacific
and Amtrak installed automatic gates and lights at the Livingston
Road crossing---a crossing that had numerous risk factors
that favor installing gates and lights. Rather, the railroads
made the financially-motivated decision to not install gates
and lights at this and many other crossings on the Chicago
to St. Louis train line."
The settlement was reached as the parties prepared to select
a jury in the case, after the Court ruled on numerous pre-trial
motions. The case is captioned: "Gregory Stalling,
Special Administrator of the Estates of Becky Stalling and
Ryan Stalling, deceased, v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. and
National Railroad Passenger Corporation d/b/a Amtrak"
Court No. 01 C 1056.
Mr.
Cavanagh has successfully represented Plaintiffs in other
lawsuits involving railroad grade crossing collisions. His
experience includes representing a woman involved in a grade
crossing crash in a lawsuit against the CN/IC which resulted
in a $9.1 million settlement and representing a husband
and wife in their 70's who sustained traumatic brain injuries
and other permanent injuries in a grade crossing collision
in 2000. That case resulted in a $22 million jury verdict
that was upheld in 2005 by the Supreme Court of Illinois.
Mr. Cavanagh can be reached for further comment on this
matter at the phone numbers and email address below.
Timothy J. Cavanagh
LLOYD & CAVANAGH
200 W. Madison St.
Suite 2050
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 425-1900
(312) 315-2554 (cell)
tjc@LloydCavanagh.com
(e-mail)
