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(Transportation-News.com, May 14, 2015 ) Salt Lake City, UT -- Tuesday, America received tragic news of an Amtrak train accident that killed at least 7 people.
The train was moving at an incredibly high speed of 106 miles per hour, when it approached a sharp curve and derailed.
The conductor of the train, Brandon Bostian, has refused to be publicly interviewed, but his attorney states that he has no recollection of the accident, other than attempting to reduce his speed just before it happened.
106 mph is more than twice the speed allowed for that particular curve, and investigators have yet to determine exactly why the train was moving so fast at the time of the accident.
Bostian has lost the mobility of one leg and received stitches in the other, along with having 15 staples applied to his head. He was one of the lucky ones. Over 200 people were injured in the train wreck, seven of which did not survive their injuries. A dozen others have yet to be found.
As disturbing as the news of this crash is, this is clearly not the first time that public transportation has been deemed dangerous.
On the opposite side of the country, the Utah Transit Authority recently went under fire after a bus made a left turn in front of a vehicle, which caused a serious collision.
The driver of the car involved, Doug Vance, fortunately survived the wreck, but was left with a shattered ankle, limited mobility, and staggering medical bills. He also needed surgery and had lost his ability to work at the oil rig where he was employed.
Mr. Vance hired a local law firm, Craig Swapp & Associates to handle his case.
During mediation, UTA offered Vance $40,000. This was enough to cover his existing medical bills, but was insufficient to cover his lost wages and upcoming surgeries. Just before going to court, UTA improved their offer to $90,000, but Vance’s attorneys refused to allow their client to be lowballed and proceeded with the trial.
In the courtroom, UTA used the defense that their driver did not see Doug Vance’s vehicle, and implied that Vance may have been moving at a high rate of speed. However, a jury of eight people agreed with Vance’s argument that if the bus driver did not see him, they must have failed to look for oncoming traffic. Vance was awarded $175,000, which after interest will amount to be over $205,000 – which is more than five times the original offer provided by UTA.
As of late, there are many attorneys that are no longer willing to handle cases against public transportation organizations, over the simple fact that they are known for being unfair in their offerings. When a government entity is involved, victims (and their lawyers) are often too intimidated to press forward.
Regarding his win, Attorney Craig Swapp stated, “This verdict was a blow against UTA’s legal strategy of denying claimants full and fair settlements.”
Craig Swapp & Associates
Craig Swapp
888-251-7671
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Source: EmailWire.Com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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