Most of us remember the Red Line Metro crash of 2009 where nine people died and dozens more were injured. It was a difficult summer for everyone involved.
The National Transportation Safety Board report found that a malfunction of the automatic train control system was the direct cause of the crash. The system is supposed to detect whether there is another train on the track and, if so, order the arriving train to wait until the track is clear. The system did not perform this critical task and permitted the second train to continue at full speed, causing the worst crash in Metro history. Since then, operators have been running trains manually and Metro has been replacing critical track equipment.
Recently, Metro released a list of 84 settlement payouts it made to victims of the crash, totaling $1.6 million. The list only includes claims that did not go to trial and does not include cases that were filed in federal court.
Metro stated that they waited so long to release this information in order to keep the payout amounts confidential and improve their bargaining power. This is a common tactic in large accident cases. The party responsible for the damage or injuries tries to play the victims off of one another to minimize their liability and keep settlement values lower.
If you or a loved one has been hurt in an accident, you can avoid becoming a pawn in the game by having an experienced litigator at your side every step of the way.
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Tagged Defective Products, fairfax personal injury attorney, Red Line Metro crash 2009
