El Paso County, Texas (TX) boasts more than 300 sunny days a year. According to their visitor’s bureau, El Paso is a great place for year-round outdoor activities, as long as they aren’t close to railroad tracks. A recent railroad derailment highlighted the need for more rail safety in the area. While no injuries were reported as a result of the derailment, the incident highlights the ever present potential for disasters caused by trains and the cargo they carry. This railroad derailment is not an isolated incident and a study found that El Paso County had more train accidents than any other county in the district. The TxDOT study says that train safety hazards present in the El Paso region include accidents at rail and roadway crossings, trespasser casualties, derailments and hazardous material spills. It also identified 33 rail improvements throughout the district, which would cost $314 million.
Unfortunately El Paso is the rule instead of the exception and is just one example of many areas affected by dangerous railroad conditions that exist all over the country. It might surprise you that there is a solution that would prevent many of these accidents and injuries. The rail anti-crash technology, known as Positive Train Control or PTC, is designed to automatically stop a train before it is able to run a red signal or get itself into other dangerous situations. It might surprise you even more to learn that railroad companies were mandated to implement it. But railroads have almost unanimously refused to adopt this technology to make railway travel safe, mainly due to expense.
What we have to ask ourselves, lawmakers and railroad companies is, “How much is a human life worth?” Is not the expense of improving safety and saving lives worth more than company profits? Members of congress must stand up to railroad lobbyists that have been pressuring them to delay the PTC mandate by three years, meaning compliance will not be required until sometime in 2018.
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Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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