Bend Train Accident Lawyer
Hurt at a rail crossing?
Railroads fight hard. We fight harder.
Train accidents are often traumatic and end in wrongful death. The emotional and financial devastation that follows a train accident is overwhelming and horrific for victims. At Precision Litigation Northwest, we have helped families recoup their financial losses resulting from negligent injuries.
Free Injury Consultation
If you’ve been injured in a catastrophic train accident, please don’t wait to fight for the compensation you and your family deserve.
Have you or your loved one been injured in a train accident? Contact Precision Litigation Northwest today for a free injury consultation. There’s no fee unless we obtain a settlement for your injury.
What Do You Need to Know About Train Accident Law in Deschutes County, Oregon?
If a railway company was responsible for a train accident, they will be held liable for damages under the law. Train accident lawsuits are often rewarded in the millions of dollars. Our clients come to us needing extensive, lifelong medical care. Tragically, some may face permanent disability and decreased lifetime earning potential. If a loved one who was injured in a train accident died as a result of their injuries, we can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the railway company on behalf of their estate.
Most of the claims we file for train accident victims are settled out of court. In many instances, the railway company and the state transit authorities responsible for the accident want to avoid negative press and exposure that often happens with a court case. But if we can’t settle a fair and just amount of compensation for you, we’re ready to fight for your rights in court.
A settlement negotiation for a train accident can happen long before the lawsuit is officially finished and closed. Accident victims often want the peace and closure that comes with a speedier settlement, whereas court cases may drag on for years. While a settlement can get you the money you need much faster than a court-appointed judgment, it may be more beneficial to your bottom line to pursue a jury trial.
When you contact our Bend train accident lawyers, we will go over every aspect of your case with a fine-tooth comb. Our experienced legal team will look at who was responsible, and to what extent, for your injuries. Sometimes, both the railway company and state transit authorities have some liability in a train accident lawsuit. We’ll also give you expert legal advice on the best way to proceed with the case.
Train Accident lawyers near you
Serving clients in central and wider Oregon. Local pages for the communities we serve most:
Where train accidents happen in Central Oregon
The freight line through Central Oregon runs beside US-97, through Madras, Redmond and Bend, and crosses local roads at grade in each town. That is where most train accidents happen. A train cannot swerve or stop short, so the questions are about the crossing itself. Were the lights and gates working? Was the view blocked by brush, parked railcars or a building? Did the crew sound the horn in time? Was a signal upgrade overdue?
Oregon gives ODOT authority over grade crossings and the protective devices at them (ORS 824.204), and federal rules through the Federal Railroad Administration govern how railroads maintain signals, sound horns and report crossing collisions. Both keep records on every public crossing, and we use them to show what the railroad and the road authority knew about a crossing before the collision, and what they did or did not do about it.
Who is responsible for a railroad crossing accident?
More than one party can share fault, and each has its own insurer. The railroad is responsible for its crew, its equipment, its signals and the sight lines on its right of way. The city, county or ODOT that owns the road is responsible for the approach, the pavement markings and the warning signs. A contractor may have been working on the track or the signals. If a public body is on that list, Oregon requires a tort claim notice within 180 days of the injury (ORS 30.275), long before the two-year filing deadline (ORS 12.110).
Railroads defend these cases by blaming the person at the crossing. Oregon’s comparative fault rule (ORS 31.600) reduces a recovery by your share of fault and bars it above 50 percent, so that argument matters. We answer it with evidence: the locomotive event recorder, the crossing signal logs, the crew’s own statements and independent witnesses, not the railroad’s account alone.
How we investigate a train accident claim
The evidence in a train case belongs to the railroad, and the railroad will not keep it for you. Our first step is a written preservation demand to the railroad and every other party, naming what must be kept: the locomotive event recorder, the forward-facing camera, the dispatch recordings, the crossing signal data, crew hours and training records, and the inspection and maintenance logs for that crossing. It goes out within days, before routine retention periods erase any of it.
Then we work the scene. Photographs and measurements of the sight lines, the signage, the angle of the approach and the condition of the crossing surface. Public records requests to ODOT and the FRA for the crossing’s inventory record and any earlier collisions, near misses or complaints. Interviews with witnesses and nearby businesses whose cameras may have caught the train. Where the physics decide the case, an engineer reconstructs the train’s speed, the horn sequence and how long the gates had been down.
A train case is prepared from the first week to be tried, in Deschutes County Circuit Court or in federal court if the railroad moves it there. A railroad does not offer a fair settlement on a claim it believes is not ready for a jury.
What to do in the first week after a train accident
Get medical care and follow through with it. St. Charles in Bend, Redmond, Prineville and Madras all see crossing injuries, and the records from those visits become the backbone of the claim. Make sure the collision was reported to police, and get the report number. Write down what you remember about the crossing while it is fresh: the lights, the gates, the horn, when you first saw the train. Keep your clothing, your vehicle and your phone exactly as they are.
Do not give a recorded statement to the railroad’s claims agent, who may call within a day or two, and do not sign anything. If a family member died, the claim is brought by a personal representative of the estate for the surviving spouse, children and parents under Oregon’s wrongful death statute (ORS 30.020), which has its own three-year deadline, and that appointment is the first thing we handle. Call 541-948-8830.
What a train accident claim can include
Medical care to date and the future care your doctors expect, including surgery, rehabilitation and equipment. Lost income while you cannot work and the loss of earning capacity if you cannot return to your job. Pain, disability and the loss of the life you had. If someone died, funeral costs, the loss of their income and support, and the loss of their companionship for the family. Your own auto policy’s personal injury protection pays the first $15,000 of medical bills for a year regardless of fault (ORS 742.520 to 742.524), so treatment does not wait on the railroad.
Early offers and medical liens in a train case
A railroad claims agent may appear within days with a check and a release. Anything signed at that point ends the claim, usually before anyone knows what the injury will cost. We do not send a demand until the treatment picture is known: the records, the bills, the doctors’ written opinions on future care and the wage documentation, together with the crossing evidence, go to every insurer at once. Your health insurer, your PIP carrier and any government program that paid bills will expect repayment from the recovery. Those liens are negotiable, and we negotiate each one so that more of the settlement stays with you.
Frequently asked questions
What Do You Need to Know About Train Accident Law in Deschutes County, Oregon?
If a railway company was responsible for a train accident, they will be held liable for damages under the law. Train accident lawsuits are often rewarded in the millions of dollars. Our clients come to us needing extensive, lifelong medical care. Tragically, some may face permanent disability and decreased lifetime earning potential. If a loved one who was injured in a train accident died as a result of their injuries, we can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the railway company on behalf of their estate.Most of the claims we file for train accident victims are settled out of court. In many instances, the railway company and the state transit authorities responsible for the accident want to avoid negative press and exposure that often happens with a court case. But if we can’t settle a fair and just amount of compensation for you, we’re ready to fight for your rights in court.A settlement negotiation for a train accident can happen long before the lawsuit is officially finished and closed. Accident victims often want the peace and closure that comes with a speedier settlement, whereas court cases may drag on for years. While a settlement can get you the money you need much faster than a court-appointed judgment, it may be more beneficial to your bottom line to pursue a jury trial.When you contact our Bend train accident lawyers, we will go over every aspect of your case with a fine-tooth comb. Our experienced legal team will look at who was responsible, and to what extent, for your injuries. Sometimes, both the railway company and state transit authorities have some liability in a train accident lawsuit. We’ll also give you expert legal advice on the best way to proceed with the case.