Pasadena, TX Injury Lawyer on the Danger of Walking on Railroad Tracks

As a kid growing up, I remember my parents and grandparents mentioning from time to time that I shouldn’t walk on the train tracks. But there’s just something about the sight of railroad tracks winding far into the distance that provides a romantic lure for kids and adults alike.

Accidents where trains strike pedestrians happen with alarming frequency across the U.S. each year. Numerous collisions between trains and other vehicles occur at railroad crossings all over the country.

An accident on a train trestle in Amherst County, VA on Thursday night well illustrates both the lure and the danger of railroad tracks to pedestrians. Five college students had climbed up onto the train trestle to admire the stars in the night sky. Suddenly a Norfolk-Southern train came along startling them out of their reverie. One student, 18-year-old Hannah Emmaline Williams, was killed when the train struck her. One student was hospitalized in critical condition after falling from the train trestle onto the ground below. The three other students survived without serious injuries.

Accounts conflict as to how the three students with minor injuries survived the train accident. One account says that all three laid down in the middle of the railroad tracks and the train passed over them. A later account says that one hung on with his arms beneath the train trestle as the Norfolk-Southern train passed overhead. The same account says that two other students leapt for a nearby piling.

The tragic accident of these five young people amply illustrates the serious dangers posed by moving trains to pedestrians. With their immense mass and weight, trains present an incalculable risk of injury and death to the fragile human body.

As a Pasadena, TX injury lawyer with extensive experience helping pedestrians struck by more massive vehicles, I could help you recover just financial compensation for your catastrophic accident losses. But unfortunately I can’t help you recover the full health, strength and well being you possessed before being struck by a train. Stay off the railroad tracks. Stay out of danger if you can. And if you do suffer dangerous injury, come to us for help.