The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

On Tuesday morning, an Amtrak train traveling from New York to Washington struck and killed a teenage girl, one of many fatal train accidents that kill about 1000 Americans every year. The train accident led to stopped traffic on Amtrak's busiest route, connecting the political and cultural capitals of the United States, with delays being expected all day long.

The accident occurred when a southbound train struck the girl about 11 miles north of the Baltimore station, halting traffic on all four tracks leading into Washington from Maryland as authorities investigated the accident.

Authorities have said that the girl was struck while walking to school. She was walking along the tracks headed south. She was with another girl who jumped to safety and called 911 on a cell phone.

In this case, authorities say the girl was struck while trespassing on the tracks, although details about security designed to keep children off the tracks in this area is not available. In other cases, the cause of fatalities in train accidents is a poorly designed crossing for either pedestrians or vehicles. A lack of working signals and poor visibility at the crossing has led to many unnecessary and wrongful deaths, a fact that some railroads have worked hard to conceal.

If your loved one was struck and killed by a train due in part to the negligence of the railroad, the train accident attorneys at the Washington, D.C. office of The Cochran Firm can help. Please contact us today for a free evaluation of your wrongful death lawsuit.