TRANSIT

Metro-North crash victim's widow filing suit

The lawsuit was filed last week in state Supreme Court in Westchester.

Khurram Saeed
ksaeed@lohud.com
The aftermath of the Feb. 3 collision between a Metro-North train and an SUV on Commerce Street in Valhalla. The vehicle's driver and five train passengers were killed.

The widow of the Bedford Hills money manager who was killed earlier this year in a horrific Metro-North train crash is suing the railroad, among others.

Eric Vandercar, 53, was riding a Metro-North train Feb. 3 when it crashed into an SUV stopped on the tracks at Commerce Street in Valhalla. His wife, Jill Shiner Vandercar, is claiming a dangerous grade crossing, faulty emergency exits and poor decision-making contributed to her husband's death.

“Emergency exits and doors could not be or were difficult to open, trapping passengers within the train and trapping Eric within the train causing his personal injuries and death,” the lawsuit states.

She is not suing the estate of Ellen Brody, 49, of Edgemont, the SUV driver at the center of the deadliest crash in Metro-North history. Brody and five train passengers, including Vandercar, died in the crash.

On the evening of Feb. 3, Brody found her SUV caught by a lowering gate at the Metro-North rail crossing. After getting out of her Mercedes-Benz ML350 to inspect the back of her vehicle where the gate had come down, she drove forward into the path of an oncoming northbound train.

Brody's SUV caught fire and an electrified third rail broke loose from the collision and sliced through the front car, where Vandercar was seated.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Westchester County, the county's departments of public works and transportation, and the town of Mount Pleasant's highways superintendent were among the others named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed Sept. 9 in state Supreme Court in Westchester.

Eric Vandercar, 53, of Bedford Hills, was one of the five people killed aboard a Metro-North Railroad train after it struck a SUV at the Commerce Street crossing in Valhalla. The crash resulted in the third electrified rail to break free and it sliced into the first train car.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan declined to discuss the pending litigation, but said there are 40 open claims from those intending to sue the MTA or Metro-North as a result of the Valhalla crash. None of the cases have been settled, he said Wednesday.

Eric Richman, Vandercar's lawyer, and Westchester County did not respond to requests seeking comment.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet issued its findings on the cause of the accident but has provided a summary of events.

Vandercar's lawsuit assigns blame on multiple fronts: from the lack of a fender, or cowcatcher, on the front of the train that could have pushed the SUV away from the third rail to train cars that weren't designed with impenetrable steel or built to prevent fires from entering the train.

Metro-North Valhalla train crash claims are in excess of $325 million

Court records also single out train engineer, Stephen Smalls, for driving too fast and failing to see Brody's SUV on the tracks in time to "brake, sound his horn, and otherwise avoid impact." He also didn't warn passengers of the "impending impact, or issue instructions on operating the emergency exit systems," the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit does not specify monetary damages for Vandercar's death, but states his wife and their two children have suffered the loss of love, companionship, income and guidance.

Additionally, the lawsuit takes issue with the Commerce Street crossing and roadway, calling it dangerous due to "its defective design, the curve in the road (and) insufficient warnings." Brody and other drivers were on the road as part of a detour stemming from an accident on the Taconic State Parkway.

Lawyers, experts discuss Metro-North, driver's liabilities

Court papers allege the crossing failed to meet minimum federal and generally accepted standards for safe rail crossings, and the defendants failed to use available funds to make the roadway and intersection safer. The Associated Press previously reported $126,000 was set aside in 2009 for safety upgrades at the Commerce Street crossing, including the installation of a third warning light, but the work was never completed.

Mount Pleasant Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi was not aware of the lawsuit, but said "it's hard to believe they have any kind of case against the town." The crossing has been there for decades and the only other fatal accident there he knew of involved a train-truck crash in 1984.

“I don’t know if it's that much of a dangerous road,” Fulgenzi said.

Twitter: @ksaeed1