Minot Railroad Train Accident Causes Another Fatality: Is It That Common?

Just outside of Minot, a 68-year-old Foxholm man was struck and killed by a railroad train in the early morning hours on a late August day this year. Very few details are available as of right now, but it is clear that the accident involved a pedestrian and train.

The train accident that killed the Foxholm man was not the first time anything like this has happened. In May of this year, a man was found dead near railroad tracks in Bismarck (though the investigation into that is still ongoing). In nearby Logan, North Dakota, a 17-year-old girl was struck and killed by a train as she was crossing the train tracks while walking home from school a few years back.

Assuming these were truly accidents and not the pedestrians’ intentional outcome, these kinds of casualties are not as uncommon as you may think. According to Operation Lifesaver, “about every three hours in the U.S., a person or vehicle is hit by a train.”

In North Dakota, most trains carry freight at odd hours of the day and night, , which may explain  why most people do not know how to behave around trains. However, when accidents involving trains do happen, they often lead to life-threatening injuries and even death. In fact, hundreds of people die in railroad accidents per year. The Federal Railroad Administration reported 2,145 highway-rail grade train accidents in 2021 that led to 236 fatalities at crossings and 668 injuries. These are the department’s preliminary figures.

Common causes of railroad train accidents in Minot

Accidents involving trains can happen for a multitude of reasons. Most of these accidents are completely avoidable. Some of the most common reasons why railroad-related accidents happen include:

• Most commonly, the conductor is driving with obstructed views or failing to sound an alarm to warn others that a train is approaching at fast speeds.
• Cargo shifts. For trains that do not carry passengers, something as simple as not properly securing loads could cause a fatal accident. That cargo could fall off the train and harm vehicle drivers or cause the derailment of the train itself.
• Reckless pedestrians and drivers. Teenagers seem to get a certain thrill by playing on train tracks or seeing how long someone is willing to stand on the tracks as a train is approaching them before jumping off. Some drivers ignore railroad warnings and try to bypass the train instead of safely stopping and waiting for it to pass. This kind of recklessness could quickly turn deadly for any of these people involved.
• Mechanical malfunctions. Railroads require so many parts to work perfectly together in order for a train to properly travel. If any aspect of this system fails, it could cause the train to crash.
• Speeding trains. Speed is frequently a factor in train accidents when they do happen. Exceeding the speed limit makes it more difficult for the conductor to effectively use switches or stop it entirely if there is something or someone on the tracks.
• Defective tracks. Weather naturally causes train tracks to erode or break, which is why it is so important for tracks to have frequent and thorough inspections. Without inspections, conductors may be unaware that pieces of the tracks are faulty, which could lead to serious consequences.
• Train derailments often happen because of human error and track conditions combined. Conductors could be speeding or improperly using switches, but if a piece of the track is weathered or broken, this could quite easily lead to derailment and cause major life-threatening injuries.
• Lack of lights or signals. Improper signage, faulty or missing gates at a railroad crossing, or missing or broken signals can easily lead to a train crash. While this is dangerous to anyone at any time of day, it is especially threatening to pedestrians and drivers in early morning hours or late at night when there is very little sunlight to help see a train coming.
• Stalled cars on tracks. Sometimes cars just stall, or they get stuck on the tracks. If a train is approaching a stalled car, passengers only have seconds to get out. Trains coming around a bend may not be able to stop in time even if they are moving at the correct speed, and a collision can put the train’s passengers at risk, too.

What are the most common injuries sustained from train accidents?

Train accidents can leave everyone shaken but unharmed, but they can also cause life-altering, or life-ending, injuries. Some of the more common injuries to drivers and passengers include:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Internal bleeding
• Organ damage
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Whiplash
• Back and neck injuries
• Death

Passengers traveling on the train are less likely to sustain injuries in a collision with a train, but it still happens. After all, the only passenger train service in Minot is Amtrak, and their record leaves a lot to be desired.

Larson Law can help if you or a loved one suffered injuries in a train collision, whether you were traveling via Amtrak or your own vehicle. Our Minot injury attorneys have decades of experience helping folks across the state. Call our office at 701-484-HURT, or submit our contact form to schedule a free consultation with a lawyer in Minot, Bismarck, or Fargo today.