CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Two years after a train carrying Republican members of Congress collided with a garbage truck, five passengers have filed lawsuits against the driver, trash company and train conductor.
Dana Naylor Jr., 32, was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter after a trial in which authorities alleged he drove a garbage truck onto train tracks on Jan. 31, 2018. The collision killed trash company employee Chris Foley and severely injured another passenger in the truck.
Naylor has been targeted by at least eight lawsuits since the crash.
The five most recent lawsuits — filed last month — were all brought by passengers, but none of them are legislators. None of the lawsuits describe specific injuries or name the complainants’ job positions.
The chartered Amtrak train was carrying dozens of Republican members of Congress to a retreat in West Virginia when it crashed.
The Daily Progress reports that the five mostly identical lawsuits allege negligence.
The suits’ claims largely follow a National Transportation Safety Board report from last year that found Naylor drove the truck around lowered crossing gate arms and onto the tracks, where it was struck by the train.
Four lawsuits allege that the conductor took too long to engage the brake, waiting until the train was just a few seconds away from the trash truck.
