News & Editorials from Merlin

October 26, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports Metorlink who is facing probable legal suits for wrongful death and personal injuries in the Chatsworth commuter train crash has approved millions of dollars in safety improvements.

It has been reported that the Metrolink Transportation Authority Board of Directors of Metrolink has approved safety upgrades which will cost and estimated $10.6 to $12.6 million and this will include additional engineers and conductors, along with Automatic Train Stop technology and the replacement of incandescent light bulbs on signals with light emitting diodes. The Automatic Train Stop technology is planned to be put into operation in 50 locations at an estimated cost of $1.1 million and used for the next several years until a more advanced system is available. This system has been used since the 1940’s and has receivers approximately 100 feet before each warning signal. This is an alarm that the conductor must acknowledge within an eight second time frame or the train will automatically slow and come to a stop.

The board approved additional hiring of engineers and conductors for trains running that will not have the Automatic Train Stop technology.

The Metrolink board has already allocated $5 million for the Los Angeles County safety improvements. The Metrolink Transportation Authority is the major source of funding for Metrolink and the five counties in Southern California that it operates.

Another item the board approved at a cost of $1 million was the changing of signal bulbs at 650 signals to give the higher visibility with the new bulbs. They also approved relocating or changing five signals that will be an approximate cost of $3 to $5 million.

Below is one of the coolest, most amazing stories by a former U.S. Marine who worked as a paralegal for several top trial lawyers, and who actually became a lawyer with no college degree on the California State Bar Law Office Study Program. This guy is so good, he was admitted into law school and became a member of the State Bar (practicing lawyer) before graduating law school!

I am republishing the below article with his permission and it is a conviction of most lawyers and a good read for anyone who is concerned about legal ethics and public commuter safety.
I realize a title like “spam attacks and the Chatsworth Metrolink accident” is a weird title, but it is fitting as you will read. I have been been writing a lot of new releases about the Chatsworth Metrolink accident of September 12, 2008, which was the deadliest light rail accident in California State history.

Within hours of the crash, it seemed every law firm in California started issuing press releases on PR web, and had their webmasters launched spam attacks against me and my website due to the high Google rankings I had regarding the “Chatsworth Metro-link accident”.

I had high Google rankings for “train accident”, because of all the educational materials I had published months previously. Prior to that, I had litigated train accident cases, first as a paralegal doing all the grunt work for other law firms, and then, as a full fledged lawyer.

During this whole period, I had been warning against the dangers of Metrolink accidents, and been an advocate for safety. I even posted a video on Youtube about Metrolink accidents, almost a year previously, which discussed the dangers of Metrolink, Metrorail, trains in general, as well as the statute of limitations in lawsuits against government entities involved in public transportation.

Almost immediately, my Youtube video shot to number one in Google search results for “Chatsworth Metrolink accident”. This is when the troubles started. My video started to be “spam attacked”, by what was clear to me, were other lawyers, and their webmasters, calling me an “ambulance chaser”, telling me I was “capitalizing” on the train crash in Chatsworth, and oh yeah, that I don’t have enough experience and to hire another attorney with more experience.

Then I started seeing other law firms blatantly posting their law firm’s links on my blogs, and DIGGs. I personally found this behavior tasteless, and insulting. But I don’t put it past most scumbag personal injury lawyers to pay people to try and destroy other honest lawyers.

This fits right in the liberal elitist mentality many trial lawyers have. The “you send your kids to public school, while I send mine to private, and you drive an electric ‘green’ death trap, while I drive an SUV” mentality so prevalent with public figures like Al Gore for example.

Before the Metrolink wreck, there was little if any concern by these elitists about Metrolink safety, but now every law firm seems to “care” with their spam attacks against me, and their press releases about how much they care about your money.

In all events, I hope you enjoyed my little blurb about Press Releases, Spam Attacks and The Chatsworth Metrolink Accident. If you were hurt in a train crash, feel free to contact me at 888-400-9721.

September 19, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

There was a funeral held yesterday after the Chatsworth Metrolink wreck, for LAPD Officer Spree Desha one of the fatally injured passengers of the Metrolink 111 crash, at the downtown cathedral Our Lady of the Angels. Officer Desha was on the police force for seven years and had recently transferred to Parker Center Headquarters and began riding the Metrolink train.

Relatives, friends and colleagues were present; a horse without rider was escorted in a procession along with four mounted officers followed by a white hearse. Officers in full dress uniforms were present at the doorway.

In the never ending saga of California light rail accidents, today, September 19, 2008, there was Metro-Rail light train wreck that occurred when a Metro Blue line of Los Angeles County, rammed a Metro bus close to downtown when undergoing today’s commute. 13 people are known to be injured according to fire officials on the scene.

This time it was a crash between a Metro Blue Line train locomotive on its way to Long Beach. It had an unknown number of passengers aboard, and the Metro bus was “out of service.” At least two dozen people were injured, but at this time, there is no evidence that the injuries appeared are life-threatening. This is according to Fire Department spokesperson, Brian Humphrey.

“We had an out-of-service bus turn in front of the train,” according to Mr. Marc Littman, who is a spokes-person for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA actually operated the bus and the metro-train that collided. He went on to say: “We don’t know who had the right of way.”

The collision caused a derailment of the electric locomotive lead train, as well, so clean up efforts are underway as the investigation proceeds. The passenger cars reportedly remained on the train tracks.

The crash comes exactly one week after the deadliest Metro-Link accident in California history. That accident occurred when a Metrolink commuter train collided head on with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The death toll so far in that train crash is 25 passengers, with at least 130 people injured. Injuries include amputation, broken bones and soft tissue injuries.

The Metro Blue Line is situated on 22 miles of train track. It runs from downtown to Long Beach and there are also other routes in the County of Los Angeles. If you were hurt in the most recent Long Beach train crash, contact Long Beach Metro-Rail accident attorney, Michael Ehline at 888-400-9721.

I have been following the recent deadly Chatsworth Metrolink accident and been reading the injury lawyer blog by Mike Ehline. I received permission to republish some of his news stories. Many of you may not even know that railroads are actually allowed to weigh the costs of human life over making things safe, since they are only liable to pay $200,000,000 dollars under federal law. I wanted to give a shout out to Ehline and give you a chance to read below as follows:

Ever since the September 12, 2008 Chatsworth train crash, public transportation attorney, Michael Ehline, has been questioning the constitutional validity and fairness of the $200,000,000 single train crash damages cap ever since the Metrolink spokeswoman accepted fault.

After all says Ehline, “this was the deadliest train crash in Metrolink’s short history”. Readers will recall that this federal damages cap was passed into law back in the 90’s and there has never been any consideration as to inflation, or costs of living increases.

Ehline said that: “All this does is give train companies a chance to weight whether or not to spend the money to make things safe, or rest comforted and assured that if they do nothing, all they have to pay is $200 million dollars, no matter how many people are killed”

And since this recent Chatsworth train crash will likely be the costliest and deadliest and most avoidable train crash in recent memory, Ehline said he will challenge legality of a $200 million cap Congress imposed on a railroad’s liability for single train collisions.

Metrolink accident lawyers representing victims and families alleging negligence in the Chatsworth Metrolink crash are warning that the general, special and punitive damagesarising from this current crash, will more likely than not, exhaust the small pittance of $200 million dollars.

This is especially true when considering that many people aboard the train were professionals who lived in the Valley with incomes that exceeded six figures. This means those well to do people who suffered wrongful death could have come close to or exceeded that figure over their lifetimes in expected contributions to their families left behind.

Typical awards for wrongful death and catastrophic injuries would include economic support of the decedents. Ehlne believes that this may be one instance in which greedy insurance companies and special interest bought and paid for congressmen and senators will have to reverse themselves in the face of the public outcry in the avoidable Chatsworth train crash of September 12, 2008. “It may be the only time in U.S. history where a damages cap would be increased, or at least be made to conform with the costs of living and inflation, unlike medical malpractice damages caps which make it much easier for unscrupulous doctors to get away with malpractice today” Ehline said.

In all events, a constitutional challenge to the damages cap will be likely challenged.

“BREAKING NEWS IN METROLINK TRAIN CRASH”

September 16, 2008-

Ever since the news that teenage train enthusiasts were text messaging the train engineer at the time of the train crash in Chatsworth, the NTSB has sought an order banning the use of cell phones by train operators on Metrolink trains.

The question frequently being asked, is did the train operator see the red light, or was he text messaging? Did he see fog, was the view obscured, or was he text messaging?

The US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the train crash, said it is seeking a court order demanding that Verizon Wireless release the phone records of the engineer’s cell phone, including the text messages. Since the engineer died during the collision, the only way to resolve the question is to get the cell phone records.

NTSB board member, Katy Higgins, stated that she was trying to determines if the engineer properly reacted to the red light, but later stated that the signals all worked properly at the time of impact.

“The question is, did he see it as red? Did he see it as something else? Did he see it at all?”, according to the official Associated Press release.

The NTSB is not taking any chances, and they are leading the effort to increase rail safety by banning rail employees using mobile phones while they are working on the train.

Even though Metrolink already bans engineers from using mobile phones while operating trains, no federal law exists at this time. This begs the question as to whether a law could have stopped this most recent Metrolink crash, since the train operator was not supposed to be using his phone to begin with.

Although NTSB investigators have warned it was too early to determine the cause of the Metrolink Train crash, they want a court order banning cell phones by train operators, until a new law is passed.

Other causes of the Chatsworth train accident could be computer, or equipment failures, or that the engineer suffered some physical ailments that incapacitated him, but the facts seem to indicate the operator was texting and simply not paying attention. If you were one of the victims injured in the train crash, or someone you love was injured in this accident, which was the worst train accident in California history, or simply wants to donate blood, contact Chatsworth train crash lawyers at 888-400-9721.

September 13, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by Los Angeles train accident lawyers, as the rescue efforts continued at the scene of the train crash between a Metrolink passenger train headed for Ventura County and an Ocean Pacific freight train, the death toll rose from 10 to 17.

Early Saturday emergency crews that numbered approximately 250 fire fighters and 200 police officers found more victims. It is reported that there are 135 injured victims of the train crash and the amount of victims could go higher.

Official’s fear there may still be trapped passengers on the damaged passenger cars that the rescue teams used hydraulic jacks to keep the damaged car from falling over. They also used other specialized equipment to cut the metal open to rescue trapped victims.

In a statement by the Medical Director for the Los Angeles Fire Department Dr. Marc Echstein said that there were 135 passengers injured and transported to hospitals with at least 85 of the victims in serious or critical condition.

BREAKING NEWS, Los Angeles Metro Rail Crashes into Bus Today!

CALL 888-400-9721 to speak with a highly experienced train accident lawyer in Los Angeles County!
September 12, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to Metrolink injury lawyers in Chatsworth, More information is becoming available in the Cathsworth Metrolink crash, it is now known that the freight train involved in the crash was a Union Pacific freight train.

In a statement from Antonio Villaraigosa Mayor of Los Angeles there have been ten confirmed deaths and approximately between 30 and 40 people injured, confirmed by Lt. John Romero of the Los Angeles Police Department. Both fear the death toll may rise as high as twenty.

It has also been reported that one of the train crash fatalities was a Los Angeles Police Department officer, the officers name has not been released.

Chief Dennis Barry of the Los Angeles Fire Department held a news conference at approximately 8:40 to release some of the details about the crash that occurred about 4:20 p.m. He stated that firefighters setup a triage at the Stoney Point Park in the vicinity of the 118 Freeway. He also confirmed the crash occurred in the vicinity of Rinaldi Street and east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and west of Canoga Avenue.

There were 250 firefighters at the scene of the crash, they were assisted by police and civilians in extracting the victims from the Metrolink passenger train.

He also confirmed that there is a hazardous material condition due to the leaking of fuel from the trains.

Sheriff Lee Baca has confirmed that there was a uniformed deputy sheriff aboard the train and sounded the alarm during the crash, this officer was uninjured. He also stated that presently the County Sheriff’s Department is assisting the city while the rescue is continuing.

Denise Tyrell the spokes person for Metrolink stated that the train involved in the crash was number 111 and its usual route is from Union Station in Los Angeles and travels to Moorpark in Ventura County. Metrolink has set up an emergency hotline for family members.

A Union Pacific spokes person confirmed they have not had contact with anyone from the scene and their train carried a conductor and an engineer. newspersonal injury attorney los angeles.