By Eddie Farah on June 20, 2008
It was just last month when we reported on the high school football hero from Clay County, Florida who was hit and killed by a CSX train while he was fishing off the trestle.
Now another area person has been hit and killed by a train.
It happened just before 11 a.m. Friday. The man or woman was driving just off of Phillips Highway. A witness says the person tried to drive around the railroad crossing arm that is intended to keep you out of harm’s way!
The driver was killed instantly.
Railroad or train accidents are considered common carrier accidents and often the carrier is held responsible if there is any negligence.
But when a person tries to drive around a clearly visible rail road crossing arm that is blocking the vehicle, the negligence standard may not apply.
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By Eddie Farah on June 13, 2008
The 17-year old Clay County high school football player who was struck and killed by a train last month was doing what many people in the Black Creek area regularly do- fish from the railroad bridge.
Wesley Whiddon Jr. was killed May 14, when he could not escape the CSX train that had just rounded a corner. His two friends jumped off the train trestle and suffered minor injuries.
Now his mother is suing for wrongful death and is blaming the railroad and its senior road foreman of engines.
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By Eddie Farah on May 24, 2008
Mourners from Orange Park said goodbye this week to a Clay County athlete killed in a train accident.
Wes Whiddon, 17, and two friends were fishing from a train trestle right next to SR- 220. A CSX train approach. All three of the teens tried to get out of the way but Whiddon could not.
He was killed immediately, his two friends were hurt.
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