Trial date set in Norfolk Southern case
A jury trial has been set for the civil case involving the families of two teenage boys who were struck and killed by a train near Elliston in 2011.
The families of Steven Robertson, 16, and Grayson Hoops, 17, filed wrongful death suits against Norfolk Southern Railway Company and Norfolk Southern Corporation after the incident. On Tuesday, the two families’ cases were consolidated during a hearing in the judge’s chambers of Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Judge Colin Gibb ruled that because the lawsuits are of the same nature, depend substantially upon the same evidence, have similar issues and arise out of the same transaction, they exemplify the “classic case for consolidation.”
The trial is scheduled to begin March 3, 2014, and last about two weeks.
The Roanoke Times | 381-8621
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Let me make perfectly clear that I feel nothing but sympathy for the parents of the two boys who were killed.
But who was wrong here? The two boys were trespassing on NS right-of-way.
Sounds like a great time for the Roanoke Times to run an article on Operation Lifesaver, the rail safety organization (http://oli.org/).
Comment by Lee Roane — February 26, 2013 @ 10:00 am
Sympathy for the families for their loss, but none for the attorneys who latched onto them to pursue this lawsuit. The railroad tracks have been there since the 1850s. Trespassing on a bridge on an active rail line (these people live in Elliston, so have to be aware of the train traffic) is against the law. Blaming the NS employees (who have to live with this tragedy themselves) for not stopping their train in time is a bit much — one doesn’t stop a heavy train on a dime, much like one doesn’t stop an 18-wheeler in an instant. If the boys had been killed crossing U.S. 460, would there be a suit against VDOT because the highway is a nuisance?
Comment by Joe Hokie — March 2, 2013 @ 10:31 am