The family of a woman who was killed after being hit by the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail on Christmas Eve 2019 is suing the agency, according to the family's attorneys.
Shannon Flood was struck at Exchange Place by a northbound train heading toward Tonelle after 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2019, the agency said in the aftermath of the incident. The agency said more than 40 people were onboard when the train struck Flood, who lived in Bloomingdale, near York Street and Hudson Street in the downtown section.
The transit agency said at the time that Flood was trespassing at Exchange place when she was hit and killed. But family for the 43-year-old Flood disagrees, and said the agency is to blame for her death.
The family contends in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit filed on Jan. 11 that Flood was lawfully crossing the street at the time of the crash. The lawsuit alleges that the train operator "failed to keep a proper lookout, use the appropriate horns and lights and was going too fast for the conditions" as he entered a plaza filled with pedestrians and cars, according to the press release.
The law firms representing the family, Bagolie Friedman Injury Lawyers in Jersey City and Eisbrouch Marsh in Hackensack, pin the blame on the driver, the light rail line and New Jersey Transit overall. They said the lawsuit "seeks to hold the defendants accountable for their negligence in causing Shannon's death."
A spokesperson for NJ Transit said they would not comment "due to pending litigation."
