A pedestrian was killed after being hit by a train at the Metra Electric District Station in south suburban Homewood.
On July 17, 2018, at about 6:00 p.m., a 52-year-old woman was hit by outbound train Number 603 while at the Homewood Station, which is located by the intersection of Harwood Avenue and Ridge Road. The train had reportedly been returning from its final stop at Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and was headed to the opposite end of the Electric District Line.
There were no passengers on the train at the time, and it had not been scheduled to stop at the Homewood Station. The incident reportedly caused delays of more than an hour.
Public Transportation Accidents in Chicago
Millions of Chicagoans rely on Metra, the El, and CTA buses to commute every day, with over 500 million public transportation rides taken in Chicago each year. With that many trips being taken, however, the risk for injuries is immense.
Because they are paid to transport the public, buses and trains are defined as “common carriers” under Illinois law. As common carriers, they are subject to a higher duty of care for the safety of their passengers, and they are therefore expected to be more cautious than regular drivers.
Any failure to maintain that higher duty of care could be classified as negligence, and those who have been injured because of this negligence may have a valid personal injury claim against the company operating the carrier, such as Metra, for example.
How Do I Pursue a Personal Injury Claim Against Metra or the CTA?
Public transportation accidents are complicated, however, and recovering these damages is not a simple matter. There are many potential causes, and sometimes another driver might be at fault instead of the public transportation operator, meaning that that driver is the one whose insurance must be pursued.
To achieve success with a personal injury claim, you need to promptly initiate a detailed investigation to figure out exactly what happened. Only by determining what caused the accident can the responsible party or parties be properly identified. Depending upon the nature of the public transportation accident, you may be able to pursue a personal injury claim against multiple people. Identifying all the potentially at-fault parties in a timely fashion is important because people who fail to bring suit within the timeframe specified by law may find themselves forever barred from obtaining compensation. While cases can be resolved before this timeframe elapses, sometimes they cannot, making filing suit against all the responsible parties essential.
Additionally, the time specified by law in which you have to file a lawsuit – known as the “Statute of Limitations” – is shorter in cases involving public transportation systems, which are owned by cities, municipalities, or other government entities. In the State of Illinois, the Statute of Limitations is one year for personal injury cases involving municipalities, as opposed to the two years that you typically have in cases against private parties.
Given the complexities involved in pursuing a personal injury claim against Metra or the CTA, you might benefit from the guidance of the Metra and CTA accident lawyers at GWC Injury Lawyers.
As Illinois’ largest Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation law firm, GWC has recovered over $2 billion for our clients.
Please contact GWC for a free, no obligation consultation with one of our public transportation accident attorneys. Call our office 24/7 at (312) 464-1234 or click here to chat with one of our representatives.
<< BACK TO BLOG POSTS