A Westchester County, New York, jury found Metro-North primarily liable for a February 3, 2015, crash that killed six people, including five Metro-North passengers.
According to reports, a northbound Metro-North train struck an SUV driven by Ellen Brody after she inadvertently drove her vehicle onto the tracks. This led to the third rail dislodging and piercing the floor of the first train car, causing multiple fires and extensive destruction.
The crash was the deadliest in Metro-North’s history.
Despite Metro-North’s attempts to place full blame on Brody, a jury determined that the railroad’s negligence was the primary cause of the catastrophe.
The jury identified two critical areas of Metro-North’s negligence: the train engineer’s failure to reduce speed upon seeing Brody’s vehicle reflected near the tracks and the flawed design of the third rail system, which failed to break away upon impact. Due to this defective design, 343 feet of the third rail penetrated the first train car, resulting in catastrophic damage.
In their verdict, the jury assigned 71% of the blame to Metro-North for the deaths and injuries sustained by the passengers, with the remaining 29% attributed to Ellen Brody. Specifically, Metro-North and the train engineer, Steven Smalls, were found 63% responsible for Brody’s death, with Brody herself bearing 37% of the blame.
The damages awarded to the passengers will be determined in a subsequent trial.
“This is a tragedy that never should have happened,” attorney Ben Rubinowitz, speaking on behalf of the victims’ families, emphasized the importance of the verdict, said in a statement. “The jury’s decision highlights the need for Metro-North to implement vital changes to ensure the safety and well-being of all passengers.”
