The National Transportation Safety Board finally acknowledged in March of 2007 that a overtired transportation crew was the reason for a head on collision of two freight trains in Mississippi almost two years ago that killed four people. This train wreck involved the failure of a crew to comply with the stop signal. The four people killed were the two crew members on each train. The final report indicated that the crew’s attention to the signal was probably reduced by fatigue.
Chronic fatigue is a known danger in the transportation industry. The railroads have large trade organizations where they discuss safety issues and health risks to railroad workers. However, the sleepiness of train crews because of overwork has not been properly addressed by the industry. For example, the workers in question had been doing 18 months worth of 12 hour late night shifts. On the day of the crash that wrongfully killed these workers, the crew had been on its sixth overnight shift in a week. The railroad in question was the Canadian National Railroad. However, similar problems and issues arise throughout the railroad industry and this type of problem happens at Norfolk Southern, CSX and Amtrak.
Given the risks of freight cars carrying hazardous materials and Amtrak trains carrying passengers, this fatigue problem needs to be dealt with better. Unfortunately, the Federal Railroad Administration has not been given enough power or acted aggressively enough with regard to limiting railroad employee’s work schedules. For the safety of the public, one hopes that the danger of fatigued transportation crews on trains will be better addressed by the railroad employers.
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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