Allowing the rarity of railway accidents and derailments to fool you into thinking they aren’t significant or worth contemplating is a mistake. True, railway accidents are far less common than vehicle accidents, but they are also far more often fatal. When you consider the size of trains, the number of people on board, and the speed at which they travel, it’s simple to see why derailments are so common in railway accidents.
Train derailments can happen for a variety of reasons. In other cases, they can be easily linked to an individual’s mistake. If you have been injured in a train accident as a consequence of the train operator’s negligence, call The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker for a free legal consultation with a train accident attorney in Long Beach CA at 800-333-0000 now.
Train Derailment Statistics
Between 2010 and 2016, approximately 10,000 train derailments occurred in the United States, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. During that time, there were 444 railway derailments in California alone. In 2016, more than 785 individuals were killed in railway accidents across the US, with 156 of them occurring in California.
Train Derailments: What Causes Them?
Train derailments are the most prevalent sort of train accident, albeit they are not the only one. A derailment can happen on the main track, the side track, or even the yard tracks. Because of how quickly trains run, a derailment is extremely dangerous. The impact force is enormous. Joint bar faults, fractured rails and welds, track-train contact, broad gauges, and buckling tracks are all potential causes of derailments. However, note that broken rails and weld are responsible for more than half of track-related derailments.
Equipment Failure Can Cause Derailments
Equipment breakdown is another possible reason of a train derailment. This can include train break failure, problems in the car axle and journal, locomotive bearing or wheel failure, broken car wheels, defects in the locomotive’s electric system, and car suspension failure. Speeding, failure to heed signals, improperly placing rail switches, vandalism, and blockage are among human causes that can cause train accidents.
Have You Ever Been in a Train Collision?
If you have been wounded in a train accident or if you have lost a loved one in a train accident, call The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker at 800-333-0000 to talk to a train accident attorney in Long Beach CA. You may be entitled to compensation depending on the facts of the case. Your first consultation is completely free and private. If we accept your case, we will do so on a contingency basis, which means you will not have to pay anything up front. Call now to discover your options.
