Trucker sues BNSF over collision with ‘uncontrolled’ rail cars ‘barreling down the tracks’

A Kansas trucker has filed suit against BNSF Railway Company for a collision that reportedly left him seriously injured.

Owner-operator Brandan Bunnel of Bunnel Trucking LLC filed suit against BNSF in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri on October 3 for more than $75,000.

The lawsuit stems from an April 5, 2018 incident that occurred in Greenfield, Missouri, around 10 p.m.

According to the suit, Bunnel had just unloaded at the Penn Pac II grain elevator and approached an railroad crossing that he said was unmarked on Park Street.

Bunnel said that he stopped and looked both ways before attempting to cross the railroad tracks. It was at this time that, according to the lawsuit, two “uncontrolled” rail cars came  “barreling down the tracks in a northbound direction.” 

Bunnel says that the rail cars struck the passenger side of his truck “suddenly and without warning.”

The suit claims that the collision caused Bunnel serious injuries and caused extensive damage to his truck.

The lawsuit accuses BNSF workers of negligence and suggest that the brakes of the rail cars were not set properly or the brakes malfunctioned.

The suit also says that stop signs and “private railroad crossing” signs were placed at the railroad crossing sometime after the crash.