DENVER — Amtrak and BNSF Railway have sued the driver of a semi-truck of milk, as well as the truck’s owner, over the Jan. 29 grade-crossing collision that derailed the eastbound California Zephyr near Keenesburg, Colo.
The suit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, says Dairy Farmers of America and driver Christian Lee Cockerham “negligently, carelessly and recklessly” operated the truck, and that the dairy cooperative was negligent in training and supervising the driver, who violated several laws by failing to stop at the grade crossing as the Zephyr approached.
The filing also contends that a second person employed by Dairy Farmers, Eric Blake, was in the truck and supervising Cockerham at the time of the accident.
Both locomotives and all the train’s cars derailed. One crew member suffered potentially life-threatening injuries, while three passengers suffered minor injuries, KDVR-TV reported. The station said that the Colorado State Patrol said the truck driver was at fault and charges were pending.
Amtrak and BNSF are asking for damages exceeding $75,000, their court costs, and “such further relief as the court deems just as proper.”
— Updated at 5:30 p.m. CT with additional information on second individual in truck.
Good start…
Whatever happened to the earlier BNSF/Amtrak lawsuit filed a couple of years ago regarding a fatal derailment due to a truck encroaching on a grade crossing?