Lawsuits filed after deaths at train crossing

TACOMA – The families of two Tacoma residents killed a year apart at the same railroad crossing have filed lawsuits against the city.

The News Tribune reports that the lawsuits filed earlier this month in Pierce County Superior Court seek unspecified damages.

Cale Tyler, 31, died Nov. 19, 2015, while on a run. Alexandria Lewis, 28, died Nov. 18, 2016, while returning from a work break.

Both were killed by Amtrak trains, and in each case just after a freight train had passed in the opposite direction.

Each lawsuit says trains sometimes simultaneously pass at high speed, creating an illusion to a pedestrian that it’s safe to cross.

The lawsuits contend that the city before the deaths made no attempt to make the crossing safer. The city declined to comment.