Metrolink has agreed to settle for $30 million the majority of the 150 California train crash lawsuits that were filed against it over the catastrophic 2005 Glendale train accident. The remaining train collision lawsuits--about a dozen of them--are expected to be resolved before the end of the year. Any Metrolink lawsuits over the 2005 crash that are not resolved will go to trial in 2010.
11 people died and approximately 180 others were injured on January 26, 2005 when Juan Manuel Alvarez parked his jeep on train tracks and poured gasoline inside his vehicle in what he claims was a suicide attempt. He says that he had a change of heart at the last minute but couldn't get his vehicle off the tracks so he left it there.
The three-car train crashed into Alvarez's vehicle and derailed, causing the lead car to ram into an idle freight train, jackknife, and crash into a passenger train that was headed in the other direction.
The settlement amounts are substantial for some of the plaintiffs. The heirs of two Los Angeles wrongful death lawsuits will get $3.5 million per claim. Another California injury case settled for $5 million. One Los Angeles train crash case settled for $3.8 million. Many of the other victims received under $50,000.
Plaintiffs' lawyers have argued that the catastrophic train accident could have been avoided if Bruce Gray, the train engineer, had applied the emergency brakes when he saw, per his testimony, what looked like the reflection of an auto on the tracks about 3/4ths of a mile ahead. Meantime, Alvarez has been sentenced to life in prison for his conviction on 11 first-degree murder counts.
The 2005 Glendale train accident was considered the deadliest US railroad crash since 1999. That is, until 2008, when 25 people died and 135 others sustained injuries in a Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth.
Metrolink pays out $30 million in 2005 crash settlements, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2009
Metrolink Lawsuit Settlement Reached, My Fox LA, October 14, 2009
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