ST PAUL, Minn. — A deadly crash between a Green Line train and an automobile driven by a prominent Twin Cities ballroom dancer has sparked bipartisan efforts to close a criminal loophole documented in a KARE eleven investigation. “We need to see that light rail visitors are held to, at a minimum, the equal widespread as a vehicle, bus, or another automobile,” Seth Westlake said as he testified earlier than the Senate Judiciary Committee at the national legislature. Seth and his older brother Peter spoke to national lawmakers in a pair of committee hearings approximately the July 2017 light rail crash that claimed the life of their 29-year-old brother Nick Westlake. The brothers expressed their family’s frustration with the reality that the light rail operator couldn’t be criminally charged because of Minnesota’s old traffic code. “It seems quite clear; it’s a quite apparent hollow in the regulation,” Peter Westlake said. In January, KARE eleven pronounced that prosecutors could not record charges against the operator of the mild rail teach – even though research discovered he was at fault in the deadly twist of fate.
He was trapped within the motive force’s seat as the vehicle started on the highway. St. Paul firefighters freed him. However, he died from his accident in the medical institution. When Westlake’s automobile enters the intersection, the video suggests that his traffic sign becomes yellow. In truth, KARE 11’s evaluation revealed the light no longer turned red till two seconds after the educator collided with the automobile. What’s extra, train operators have their very own signals. A vertical bar method cross and a horizontal bar method forestall. Cameras on board the light rail train, without a doubt, show the alerts had been horizontal earlier than the educate entered the intersection. But the educated operator, Abdellatif El Maarouf, faced no fees.
The St. Paul City Attorney’s office declined to report charges, although Assistant St. Paul City Attorney Stephen Christie wrote that he believed the train operator was at fault. His memo declining prosecution reads: “In the opinion of this office, the investigation honestly establishes that Mr. El Maarouf operated a light-rail train in a hazardous manner which was answerable for the collision with the motor automobile on July 15, 2017.” The memo says the teaching operator “disobeyed the LRT traffic sign’s horizontal line.” However, the prosecutor wrote, “In the Traffic Code, the definition of ‘vehicle’ particularly excludes a rail educate.”
The memo persevered: “Thus, there may be no criminal fees in this case for any violation of the Traffic Code because it no longer applies to the operation of a rail teach.” “One of the most challenging conversations we had to have was with the district legal professional,” Peter Westlake advised lawmakers. He defined the prosecutor, “Sat us down and stated, yeah, everything indicates that this man ran a pink mild, and if he were in a bus, if he were in a car, if he had been in a truck, we would be required fees. But due to the fact he’s using a light rail, there’s nothing we can do since that’s how the regulation is written.” An own family’s fight for reform. When KARE eleven confirmed the video of the crash to the state lawmakers, they vowed to do so. A pair of bills, one inside the Senate and the other within the House, have been introduced. Peter and Seth Westlake have seemed at each listening to the payments, lobbying for reform. “We simply need to see that changed,” Peter explained to lawmakers. “We assume that it’s appropriate that mild rail operators riding 3-hundred-thousand-pound automobiles must be held to at least the same preferred as you or I when we force a vehicle down the street.”
“You stated that the county attorney stated that there was nothing they could do, and he might be right,” said Senator Kari Dziedzic (DFL– Minneapolis). “But he changed into incorrect in pronouncing there was nothing no one may want to do,” she delivered, “due to the fact you are doing the proper thing with the aid of bringing this ahead, and also you need to be proud of that. And your brother might be proud of that. So, I thank you for being here.” “I see this invoice as a legacy bill to Nic,” stated Representative Connie Bernardy (DFL–New Brighton). The bipartisan measures passed with 0 competition within the hearings. The bill is now going to the entire Senate floor and has just one hearing left in the House. “On to next steps,” stated Peter. “We’re hoping we can get this passed this session, and it’s making good development.”