Railroad Crossing Death Suit Settled

By THE VALLEY TIMES-NEWS

LaFAYETTE - A pending lawsuit against CSX Transportation has been settled out of court and won't be going to trial as planned.

The suit claimed that CSX was at fault in the 1996 death of 26-year-old Jason Garner of Lanett, who was killed when his vehicle was struck by a train at a crossing on Cusseta Road. Mr. Garner left a young wife and two small children.

Represented by attorney W.O. "Trip" Walton III, the Garner family maintained that CSX had not maintained a crossing with adequate safety features and that Chambers County did not post the needed warning signs approaching the railroad crossing.

At the request of the parties involved, the amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

CSX was represented by Craig Dillard of Webb & Eley, Montgomery, and Skip McCoy of Johnson, Caldwell & McCoy of Lanett represented Chambers County.