John Davis Trucking Co., Battle Mountain, NV., is countersuing Amtrak and Union Pacific, charging that the railroads’ failure to maintain a safe railroad crossing contributed to a deadly truck-train crash in which six were killed last month in Reno, according to the Reno-Gazette Journal.
A John Davis Trucking rig crashed into an Amtrak train on June 24 on U.S. 95, killing the truck driver and five passengers on the train. The trucking company faces five lawsuits in conjunction with the accident.
In its countersuit filed in U.S. District Court in Reno last Friday, the trucking company said the railroads did not adequately warn drivers of oncoming trains. Union Pacific owns the tracks the Amtrak train was traveling on.
“Our position is that John Davis Trucking has acted properly and has done everything right,” said Steve Jaffee, the Las Vegas-based lawyer for the trucking company. “The evidence will demonstrate that this was an issue involving Amtrak and Union Pacific and failures on their part.”
“We have significant concerns regarding the manner in which Amtrak and Union Pacific operated that crossing both from the perspective of the train and its operations and the manner in which the crossing was operated for those lawfully on the roads, including John Davis’ truck,” Jaffee said.
