Crossing collision: Inoperative or nonvisible signals: Speeding: Failure to blow whistle: Wrongful death: Settlement

Law Reporter, Dec 1998

Crossing collision: Inoperative or nonvisible signals: Speeding: Failure to blow whistle: Wrongful death: Settlement.

Sowards v. Consolidated Rail Corp., U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Ind., No. 2:96CV169RL, Feb. 20, 1998.

As Sowards made a left turn and drove through a crossing controlled by flashing lights, his pickup truck was hit by a train. He suffered fatal injuries. Sowards, 49, had been a steelworker earning about $30,000 annually. He is survived by his wife and two adult daughters.

Sowards's estate sued the railroad, alleging the flashing signals were either not working or not visible to left-turning motorists on sunny days. Plaintiff also alleged defendant's engineer had been speeding and had failed to blow the whistle.

Defendant contended that the flashing signals had been working and that the engineer had blown the whistle and had not been speeding.

The parties settled for $500,000.

Plaintiff's experts were Archie Burnham, railroad crossings, Ellenwood, Ga., and Jonathan Furdek, economics,

Munster, Ind.

Plaintiff's Counsel:

*Saul I. Ruman, Hammond, Ind. *David W Holub, Hammond, Ind.