Railroad | InjuryBoard Virginia Beach

In late April 2008, an Ohio state court jury ordered Conrail to pay $2.6 million to its former locomotive engineer, for negligently causing his diesel exhaust asthma lung disease. Frank Battaglia, worked in the Detroit, Michigan rail yards for Conrail for 23 years as a railroad engineer, before he was eventually diagnosed with diesel exhaust fume asthma.

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By: Rick Shapiro, Attorney Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton Law Firm focus on Federal Regulations and Railroad. Historical Knowledge of Health Dangers. There is a growing body of evidence that long-term railroad worker exposure to diesel exhaust fumes can lead to a condition called diesel asthma; a form of COPD, and additional evidence shows an increased incidence of lung cancer rates among such workers.

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This article discusses railroad worker long term diesel exhaust fume lung disorders, as well as medical studies relating to diesel fume lung diseases and lung cancers, and another related article in this series covers new federal regulations that are clamping down on excessive railroad locomotive engine diesel fumes, as well as historical railroad knowledge of diesel exhaust lung disease legal cases.

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Also, when a railroad claims there is "no need" for an ergonomic assessment of a railroad worker job or task which has caused numerous injuries, showing the 1991 CSX ergonomic study of electricians totally refutes such nonsense.What does ergnonomics have to do with railroad worker injuries involving heavy lifting or even repetive stress injuries? Alot, and even the railroads held seminars in...

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Authored By: Richard N. ShapiroIf you are involved in an accident in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake or anywhere else, choose your lawyer wisely. A lawsuit is a stressful experience by anyone's account. As the client, you should find comfort in knowing that your case is in good hands. Far too often, clients tell me that they meet with an attorney originally and then never see that...

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There is a famous classic rock song entitled "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and in my practice as a personal injury lawyer for victims we deal every week with dirty, dastardly deeds (not done dirt cheap) by defense lawyers fighting our personal injury clients' cases. We deal with several large corporations or railroads that find themselves sued for personal injury often. They usually don't...

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According to published reports of the Washington Post, the chief of the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been flying around the country to various events, all paid for by toy, appliance and children's furniture industries that they are supposed to be regulating! Many trips were covered by lobbying groups and lawyers representing these manufacturers.The trips were taken by Nancy Nord or...

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In the recent past, several insurance companies have issued controversial guides about what to do if you are in a car accident--the controversy arises from the not so subtle message NOT to retain an attorney. Actually, several lawsuits forced insurers to change or alter their materials. Now, Norfolk Southern, which is subject to claims falling under the Federal Employers' Liability Act...

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I ended my 2006 article predicting: "pretty soon, even conservative federal legislators will recognize that the railroad preemption card has eroded, not promoted, railroad safety and the pendulum will swing back." Little did I know that approximately one year later Congress would act, and President Bush would sign, the new legislation, 49 U.S. Code Sec 20106, which clarifies that the Federal...

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A growing number of locomotive engineers have successfully pursued FELA claims against their employers based upon excessive vibrations found in locomotives. These claims are related to various long term maintenance issues (i.e. poorly maintained track, altered or poorly maintained locomotive seats, etc.). While transportation employees may be subject to locomotive cab vibration, they also face...

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We still have many nuclear power plants around the United States that are generating nuclear waste, nearly all in the form of spent nuclear fuel rods. Also, the United States has a continuing problem with where to store the low-level nuclear waste in the form of these spent fuel rods. The problem has been for decades that no state in our United States wants to accept the waste from the nuclear...

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An amazing story of a railroad's careless conduct and the intense and lifelong consequences of such carelessness arose out of a recent 37.5 Million Dollar settlement that Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS) paid in October, 2006. I personally spoke with Tom Jones, one of the several trial lawyers with Davis, Bethune and Jones, who represented the entire family that was tragically injured...

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There was a recent article in the local newspaper concerning Norfolk Southern Railway Company conducting a special train ride carrying one hundred people in two passenger cars behind a locomotive, to help these people understand rail safety and the dangers of railroad crossings. However, Norfolk Southern Railway Company and "Operation Lifesaver", a non-profit group, have been accused of trying...

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The Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA) was enacted by Congress in the 1970's to improve nationwide railroad safety, and to make sure uniform laws applied to essential railroad safety for trains travelling through multiple states. The idea was that individual states could not enact a hodge podge of different safety rules on basic transport of freight or as to how the railroad track was to be...

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Per the Federal Railroad Administration's Web site, there have been 10 reported accidents involving trains and motor vehicles at public and private crossings in Virginia through the first three months of 2006, assuming that the statistics are correct. There have been more since March 2006 in Virginia. As rural development and new roadways cross railroad tracks, inevitably there are increased...

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