SettlementBoard.com News, Articles and Information for Legal Junkies

National Railroad Accident Statistics

The most recent and complete national railroad accident statistics reported from the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis have been submitted for the time period of January to December in the year 2008.
2008 Railroad Statistics

• 733 railroads reported in 2008
• 12,440 accidents/incidents were reported; this was over a 9% decrease since 2007
• 794 fatalities occurred
• 8,558 non fatalities occurred
• 2,414 train accidents occurred, this was almost a 10% decrease from the previous year
• 27 fatalities occurred, this was a major increase from the previous year
• 282 non-fatalities occurred
• 190 collisions occurred, this was a 9% decrease from the previous year
• There were 1,756 derailments, which was almost a 9% decrease from 2007
• This was a 23%decrease since 2005

Railroad Cause/Factor Statistics

• 841 counts were caused by the railroad track
• 878 counts were related to human factors
• 309 counts were caused by equipment malfunction
• 48 counts were signal related
• 338 counts were miscellaneous
• 1,334 counts were yard accidents

Highway/Railroad Incidents

• 2,391 were highway/railroad incidents
• 286 were fatal
• 935 were non-fatal

Other Railroad Incidents

• There were 7,635 other incidents
• 481 were fatal
• 7,341 were non-fatal
• Employee Fatalities: 25
• Employee Non-fatalities: 4,841
• Trespasser Fatalities: 452
• Trespasser Non-fatalities: 425

From 2005 to 2008: Summary of Railroad Accidents

• There has been a 10.6% decrease in total railroad accidents and incidents
• There has been a 24.2% decrease in train accidents
• There has been a 36.3% decrease in yard accidents
• There has been a 6.4% increase in passenger on train incidents

The Federal Railroad Administration

• There are roughly 3,000 train accidents every year
• Train accidents claim 1,000 lives every year
• About every two weeks local residents are asked to evacuate their homes due to train derailments that cause chemical spillage
• Currently in the United States there are 600 railroads and close to a million miles of railroad tracks

Article provided courtesy railroad accident attorneys of:
Doran & Murphy, LLP
1234 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14209
Toll-Free: 800.374.2144