The Safety Appliance Act in Railroad Accident Cases

As a personal injury lawyer focusing on railroad worker injury cases under the FELA, I am always looking out to see if the case that I’m working on can be fit under the Safety Appliance Act.

The Safety Appliance Act (SAA) is a separate law that is incorporated into the general FELA that governs when a railroad worker gets hurt on the job. If the accident involves a car or the brakes or couplers on a train it may well come under the Safety Appliance Act. The Safety Appliance Act was enacted to make sure that railroads provide workers with safe equipment including the grab irons and ladder systems on cars as well as the brake systems and couplers. If any of these pieces of railroad equipment are not working they can cause severe injuries.

How Do SSA Cases Work in Virginia?

If a case falls under the Safety Appliance Act then it is essentially automatic liability on the railroad. In these special cases the railroad worker does not even have to show negligence by the railroad but only has to show that a car, coupler or brake which comes under the law was defective and not working properly at the time they got hurt. Even if the railroad worker was partially at fault in causing their own accident if the case comes under the SSA it is still 100 percent the railroad’s responsibility to compensate the worker.

One of the reasons to hire an experienced Virginia attorney if you are a railroad worker who has been hurt on the job is that someone like me who has been doing it for 20 years, knows the specialized areas of the law in order to obtain the maximum fair compensation for the railroad worker and his family.

Contact Our Virginia Attorneys to Learn More About the SSA

Our firm handles railroad worker’s injuries and accidents on rail crossings across Virginia. If we believe that your Virginia railroad accident case falls under the Safety Appliance Act, we could help you through this legal process. To get started on your case, call today, and schedule a free consultation.

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