Should a locomotive engineer be able to sue estate.?

Question

if a locomotive hits a vehicle and kills a drunk driver should the locomotive engineer be able to sue estate of driver for emotional destress,in the form of ptsd [post tramatic stress disorder]

Answer 1

Ability?  Perhaps.  But the damage is already done, drunk or not.  The majority of the idiots who put themselves in harm's way are not intoxicated.

But, even with a large settlement that gets you the nice big expensive bed with satin sheets, doesn't help to keep from reliving the event, night after night after night, when trying to go to sleep.  I wish there was a dollar amount that would make this stop.

Answer 2

h**l Yes! Not only the engineer, but the conductor also! When a train hits something. Its the conductors job to go check it out and make sure the car is not leaking gas, the person is dead ect... Stay off the tracks and these problems would not happen!

Answer 3

Yes . There is no reason not to even since the driver was drunk and don't think it s not his fault hes drunk because beleive me it is

Answer 4

Absolutely.

Lets not consider just the drunk that gets hit.

Lets consider anyone that gets hit at a crossing or even walking along the tracks (trespassing).

Lets consider other more terrifying or emotionally charged situations.

Lets say the train strikes a school bus full of children.

The children have no control over the bus driver not stopping at a railroad crossing. The driver is the one that made the conscious decision to do that. Yet it is the children and the horrified crew that have to deal with the aftermath.

Should the train crew sue for PTSD??? Absolutely!

I dare say the driver (or their estate) and the probably the county government would be target for lawsuit.

Killing or injuring someone in a situation that you have absolutely no control over, but is the result of stupidity and/or gross negligence or dereliction of the duty is, I believe, perfect grounds for suit.  

I can guarantee that the family of the person that was hit by the train is going to try and sue the "big bad railroad", regardless of the fact that the driver of the vehicle is in the wrong.

The railroad company in turn is going to sue for damages to equipment and personnel as well as lost revenue, etc.

Why should the crew not be allowed this privilege as well.

Consider this:

Anyone that gets hit by a train, and is not a railroad employee or contractor, is almost certainly TRESPASSING.

The railroad allows road crossings as a convenience.

The property along the railroad bed belongs to the railroad. It is NOT government property as many people seem to think. It is private property.

In fact, the railroad owns the property from as little as 50ft to as much as a couple of miles on either side of the track.

When the crossing gates are down, or the lights are flashing at a crossing, in fact when the engineer blows the warning for that crossing, it is a signal saying, in effect, "no trespassing".

When someone trespasses, it is the train crew that deals with the unfortunate circumstance.

If you don't think it is stressful, ask my buddy that is an engineer for NS that, in his last week or so of his cubbing as engineer, hit a drunk/doped up trespasser walking on the tracks.

He had to walk back and see the result.