Personal Injury Law

Chicago Train Drags 22-Month-Old Girl in Stroller

On Monday, Ebere Ozonwu experienced a horrifying moment when the doors of a Red Line train shut on her 22-month-old daughter?s stroller, dragging the toddler and the carriage down the platform as it left the station.

The little girl, Rachel, ended up some 10 feet past the platform on the gravel after she was thrown from the stroller as it hit a metal barrier at what may have been a speed of about 15 to 20 mph. Rachel, who landed on her back, sustained minor injuries from the CTA train accident.

Investigators are trying to determine how such a dangerous incident could have happened. According to Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 308 president Robert Kelly in the Chicago Tribune, operator error and machine malfunction would have both had to occur in order for this kind of injury accident to happen.

The CTA has suspended the train operator while the preliminary probe takes place and Chicago police are also investigating the Chicago train accident. The train operator says that the sensors did not go off to let her know there was something trapped in the doors as she left the Rogers Park station. Kelly also says the train shouldn?t have been able to move if it had detected that a door was not shut.

Even with the sensor system, CTA train drivers are still required to stick their heads out of the cab to make sure all the doors are closed. Per CTA procedure, the driver needs to check outside the cab before leaving the station. The train operator says she made the check and did not see the stroller.

The train proceeded to make five more stops before the stroller was discovered.

Injuries to Minors
While minors cannot file their own Chicago injury lawsuits, a parent or guardian can make the Illinois injuries to minor claim for them. Toddlers, babies, and kids are especially susceptible to fatal injuries during Chicago fall accidents, train crashes, and motor vehicle collisions.

CTA and baby stroller: Questions arise after mother says girl thrown from stroller at Morse "L" platform, Chicago Tribune, November 4, 2009

Toddler thrown onto CTA tracks in accident, ABC, November 3, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Chicago Transit Authority

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on November 04, 2009 (boomark / email).