Judge in rail crossing death to hear case
By Vince Mancini
Published on August 25, 2005
The family of Jim Collete, represented by his brother John, is asking for $2 million in damages in connection with his 1997 death at a railroad crossing.
On Wednesday, Collette, who is representing himself, and Assistant Attorney General Dale House argued Collette's two main assertions in the case: The train's whistle did not sound soon enough to warn Jim, and that trees and brush hindered visibility at the crossing.
The Judge threw out Collette's argument about the whistle, but said the point regarding visibility could continue to trial.
House argued that a recording train suggests the engineer sounded the whistle 14 seconds before engaging the train's emergency stop mechanism. The emergency stop happened about one second before hitting Jim Collette's vehicle. House argued Collette cannot show that blowing the whistle 15 seconds before the crossing caused an unreasonable risk of harm.
Collette argued that the train was closer than it should have been when it blew its whistle according to the law.
Judge Pengilly found in favor of the railroad because he said noise from the truck and from Collette's band radio meant Jim Collette could not have heard the whistle anyway, making it impossible that it contributed to his death one way or the other.
On the other issue in the case, house argued that there was a stop sign at the crossing, and that visibility was satisfactory. He said the railroad cannot be held responsible for people that run the stop sign.
Collette argued that because of all the trees blocking visibility at the track, his brother didn't see the train until he was right at the intersection.
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