The tragic case of Marin Lacson, the 17-year-old Barrington High School student who was struck and killed by a Metra train on January 25, has now led to a wrongful death lawsuit. The suit, which targets Union Pacific Railroad, Metra, the Regional Transportation Authority, and the village of Barrington, contends that these entities failed to institute necessary safety measures at the railroad crossing where the accident occurred. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the family's attorney James Pullos stated, “Marin’s death was entirely preventable.” Pullos further explained that the young teen was hit while crossing the tracks after the passage of the first train, unaware of a second incoming train because of the absence of adequate warnings.
Marin's father, Michael Lacson, voiced his grief and determination to prevent future tragedies in a video statement, saying, "My family is committed to making a difference to prevent something like this from ever happening again," as reported by the CBS News Chicago. The crossing in question, at Hough and Main Streets in downtown Barrington, has been a site of past pedestrian accidents, including a fatal one and an incident in 2013 where an 11-year-old boy lost his foot. Despite these occurrences, no pedestrian gates had been installed at the time of Marin's death.
The lawsuit argues that the defendants were negligent in failing to install vital safety features, such as pedestrian gates and warning signs. It highlights the "quiet zone" designation of the crossing, which typically means that train operators silence their horns when approaching. “We believe that pedestrian gates certainly would have been a necessary safety requirement that would have saved her life," Pullos conveyed. The CBS News Chicago interview outlined the distress over the fact that no pedestrian safety studies had ever been conducted for this crossing.
Since the accident, the village of Barrington has taken some actions, such as using safety monitors at four railroad crossings during school commuting times. They also completed signage and pavement marking improvements in February. However, the lawsuit and calls for additional protective measures, like pedestrian gates, indicate that these responses might not be perceived as sufficient. The village, in a statement obtained by CBS News Chicago, acknowledged being aware of the lawsuit but said they have yet to be formally served and noted that they requested a pedestrian gate at the crosswalk back in February. The exact status of improvements to the crossing remains unclear, and updates from the village and railroad companies are awaited by the concerned public and the grieving Lacson family.
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