California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
Many people remember the tragic Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth, California on September 12, 2008. The crash resulted in the death of 24 passengers and injuries to 98 survivors. Today, Judge Peter Lichtman decided how to divide up the 200 million dollars in funds available to the victims of the Metrolink train accident.
According to the judgment, in the first group, the adult wrongful deaths, the average recovery is 4.2 million dollars. In the second group, the parents of young people who were killed in the train crash, they were awarded an average of 1.2 million dollars in wrongful death damages. For the 98 injured passengers, their personal injury settlements, based on their injuries, damages and future care were for $12,000 or more.
The judge also dismissed three claimants from the personal injury case, including one person who attorneys allege was not actually on board the train at the time of the train accident.
The Metrolink train accident was allegedly caused by a negligent engineer, who did not see a stop light, possibly because he was texting on his cell phone. Unfortunately, the total recovery of 200 million dollars is the maximum allowed under federal law for a train accident. The judge said that this was not enough to cover the damages suffered, which for many survivors will include post traumatic stress and psychological damages.
Our train accident attorneys handle train accident injury and wrongful death cases throughout all of California, including Los Angeles, Chatsworth, Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Riverside, and Barstow. Anyone injured in a California train accident is advised to contact our office right away to speak to a train crash lawyer.