Home › News › Local News
Potential liability an issue in Metrolink crash
Download this story as a podcast!
STORY TOOLS 
More from Local NewsAt its first meeting since the deadly Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, the Ventura County Transportation Commission spent more than an hour Friday discussing potential liability in closed session.
No one has filed a claim against the commission, which is part of a joint powers authority representing five Southern California counties that governs the commuter rail agency. But there still are questions about potential massive liability from the worst rail accident in the agency's history.
Although the joint powers authority is meant to protect the member agencies from liability, commissioners remain unsure about what will happen in the flurry of lawsuits likely to be filed over the coming year.
"Based on the information that's out there about the number of claims and the dollar figures, local members have questions," said Darren Kettle, executive director of the Transportation Commission.
As the meeting was finishing up Friday, Commissioner Dean Maulhardt, an Oxnard City councilman, asked people to remember those who died or were injured.
The Sept. 12 crash left 25 dead and 135 injured, and many of the victims were from Ventura County. The Metrolink train engineer missed a red signal and hit a freight train head-on. Authorities said the engineer was text-messaging right before the crash, but the cause of the collision is still under investigation.
The accident has triggered new federal rail safety rules and pledges by Metrolink that likely will add to the costs of operating the commuter rail service. Congress recently passed legislation calling for Positive Train Control, technology that can automatically stop or slow trains to prevent accidents. Last week, the Metrolink board voted to add a second engineer on its trains and speed up safety improvements.
"None of the safety measures are free," Kettle said. "There will be substantial costs."
The federal money recently pledged to help pay for some of the new technology and safety measures "won't begin to pay for it all," he said.
And then there is the liability. At a town hall meeting this week in Simi Valley, attorneys told victims of the accident that at least nine defendants could share liability in the case. The lawyers said claims will likely exceed the $200 million federal cap on train accident payouts. They said any company that might share responsibility would be aggressively pursued.
"Our attorneys tell us we have no legal exposure," said Kettle. "Commuter rail has been tremendously successful in Southern California," he said. "It's going to take a lot of effort to get through this, but I don't think the long-term vision is going to change."
Posted by Jacksprat on October 4, 2008 at 9:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Now the lawyers will get rich.
Posted by Old_Fart on October 4, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And the money that could be used for safety implementation will line their pockets
Posted by ebrockway on October 4, 2008 at 3:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I've seen commercials on cable already for three sererate law offices who "have experience" in Mass Transportation Injury suits.
Yeah, float another bond to pay for it.
Posted by santabarbarasand on October 4, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It will force them to make sure that the rails are safer from stupid things like this happening again! These won't be frivolous lawsuits but justified ones and the families should all sue for their lost loved ones, the injured shouldn't have to worry about paying their medical bills or the lost wages or how to pay for the PTSD counseling either! If the government did a better job taking care of its people, there wouldn't be such a need for lawyers... its not just about teaching these organizations to be safer, its about taking care of those that were hurt by the neglect of safety to begin with.
Posted by Old_Fart on October 4, 2008 at 6:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think we were saying the lawsuits are frivolous, its the 50 cents on the dollar the lawyers will take from the results that are being questioned.
Posted by horsespinner on October 4, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
time to shut it down, busses too
Posted by AnnaWhaat on October 4, 2008 at 6:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No excuse........the Metrolink is completely repsonsible. All those text's and they miss two red lights! They are completely at fault. If only there was a way to put a device in the train to tell if the engineers are on the phones or texting that would help tremendously. Prayers to all those who lost someone or who is suffering from this tragic event. I say skip the lawyers and sue yourself. Attorneys are a rip off. Sure they help and do all the paperwork but the money they make off of someone else's tragic is like stealing.......Can't the government set a certain amount attorneys can profit off of thier cases?
Posted by keepin_it_real on October 4, 2008 at 9:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think there is such a device to detect the engineers are on the phone or texting. But, maybe they can be made to agree to show their usage every month and if they used their phone at all during work hours, they can get fired. End of story. That should go for any person responsible for public transportation and pilots.
Posted by TomDonohoue on October 9, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let's see. Who would we ask to impose a limitation on the money lawyers can suck out of award settlements? Who we ask? The congress? The state legislature? Who are the members of those fine institutions? Most of them are lawyers, both now and if we ever help them to retire. How many of them will do anything to reduce what lawyers can make on a case like this? The deep pockets are the public agencies. Who are the public agencies? They are the people we (indirectly, through representatives) the people hire to take care of these matters. Where do they get that money? The deep pocket is ultimately your pocket and my pocket. The people who suffered the loss deserve reasonable compensation. Beyond that, all the extra money the attorneys take out of this settlement will make it that much harder for our public officials to get their jobs done. You know, dealing like insignificant issues like making our public transportation safe.
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
- Posts that degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
- Disparaging remarks, abusive language or obscene comments.
- Threats, whether obvious or veiled.
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.
There are 9 comments to this article.
Comments are found beneath the Yahoo! ad below.