By Randy Appleton, Railroad Injury/FELA Attorney
An important act passed by Congress called the Safety Appliance Act institutes a broad range of regulations that apply to virtually every type of train car, and some locomotive engines used by railroad companies. The act addresses many different conditions that must exist without a defect or insufficiency on railroad cars.
The following are just a few of the conditions and procedures that must be safe:
- Ladders/handholds must be secure and have no insufficiency
- Manual brakes must work properly and have no improper condition
- The overall air brake system on the train must work properly
- All walkways must be properly constructed and there are precise regulations relating to many details
- No oil or slippery substances on locomotive walking areas
- There can be no broken parts or insufficient conditions relating to the train car wheels, trucks, gears and similar components
When a railroad worker suffers an injury due to any insufficient condition or defect on a train car, or due to faulty brake parts and systems, and if this problem leads to railroad worker injury, this constitutes a regulatory violation creating strict, or absolute, liability on a railroad employer. Many state and federal court cases confirm that the regulatory violation need not involve an actual defect, just an insufficiency or improper condition may constitute a complete regulatory violation depending upon the evidence. Such a violation means that a worker and the attorney representing the railroad worker, have no duty to show advance knowledge of the railroad or a railroad supervisor, before the injury occurs. The law states the violation is absolute and complete with the finding that the injury was caused by the improper condition or defect. This means that the main issue becomes fair compensation under law to the worker and relieves the worker and her attorney from proving advance notice.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing hundreds of railroad workers in FELA/ railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad – The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.
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