Unlike Florida lawmakers, Massachusetts lawmakers are refusing to shield CSX, a railroad company, from liability in the event of a passenger train wreck. Florida lawmakers agreed to the liability terms set by CSX in a $491 million deal.

Both states are in the process of negotiations with CSX Transportation to buy tracks for government run commuter rails. Florida’s proposed rail system would cover about 61 miles in Orlando. In exchange, CSX would transport freight during slow commuter times.

CSX wants both Florida and Massachusetts to accept “no-fault” liability provisions, which means that the states would take responsibility for any passenger train wreck that occurs on CSX tracks, even if the wreck is caused by negligence on the part of CSX.

The Massachusetts Lt. Governor Timothy Murray called the provision unreasonable.

Since Florida accepted the terms, Florida taxpayers are now responsible for paying for any injuries to passengers or damages to the trains in the event of a train wreck.

The “no-fault” provision is part of a larger deal in Florida, where the state would buy $491 million worth of tracks that would extend CSX freight operations into Polk County.

Currently, train wreck attorneys are working on cases that involve the serious or fatal injures incurred during a train wreck caused by the negligence of another.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Driver Distraction, Negligence, Train Accidents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.