Who has the legal burden of proof in an Atlanta train accident case?

Railroad companies have a duty to use extraordinary care when it comes to train operations in and around the City of Atlanta. When a train driver or train company refuses to use reasonable care when operating a train, and an accident occurs that causes train occupants to suffer injuries, then the train driver and/or train company can be held responsible for the accident and any resulting personal injuries.

In a train accident case, the accident victim has the burden of proving that the train operator, train company, or someone else breached the applicable standard of care. The standard of care in a train accident case is reasonability. In other words, if the defendant train operator or some other person behaved unreasonably under the circumstances, then the accident victim could take legal action against those responsible parties.

Some of the ways a train operator could be negligent include:

• Allowing for hazardous conditions and defects to be present on the rail company’s railroad tracks
• Failing to sound the train’s whistle or horn before arriving at a grade crossing
• Failing to keep crossing signals, crossing gates, and train signals in proper working order at all times and failing to make the necessary repairs on faulty train equipment
• Carrying excessive train cargo
• Failing to properly inspect engines, passenger cars, and freight rail cars, and make the necessary repairs to avoid accidents
• Exceeding the speed limits for passenger and freight trains
• Failing to hire experienced train operators, conductors, and other personnel
• Allowing objects to hang out of the train, leading the object to collide with a pedestrian at a crossing or a nearby motor vehicle
• Operator violations of safety laws, regulations, and rules pertaining to rail traffic in Georgia
• Failing to properly maintain engines, rolling stock, and passenger train cars

If you or someone you care about has sustained injuries in a train accident that was caused by one or more of these acts of negligence, the experienced Atlanta train accident attorneys at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC can help you prove that the other side was negligent and look to the at-fault person or entity’s insurance company for monetary compensation and damages in your case.