$55-Million Judgment in Car-Train Collision
A jury has ordered two railroads to pay $55 million to three family members who suffered brain injuries when their car was struck by a freight train last year.
Lilia Apulello, 40, and her parents, Fidel Velarde, 73, and Francisca Velarde, 72, were hurt in January 2001 at a Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad crossing in Bloomingdale.
Authorities said the crossing gate and warning lights were not working, and a dispatcher had erroneously lifted an order requiring trains to stop at the crossing while crew members got out and stopped traffic to let the train pass through.
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