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The parents of a young boy killed when he rode his bicycle into the path of a train are suing the railroad company and the town for their losses.
Timothy and Jamie Shear are seeking an unspecified amount to compensate for the loss of services, loss of love and companionship, funeral and burial expenses and psychological damage resulting from the Aug. 8, 1999, death of their son, Tyce Robert Shear, who was 7 years old.
The younger Shear was pronounced dead on arrival at Goshen General Hospital the day of the accident. A press release issued at the time of the accident indicated Shear was one of three young boys who crossed the Front Street CSX tracks in Syracuse in front of an oncoming train. The other two boys made it safely across.
Documentation of the accident indicates the train's lights were flashing and whistles were sounding as it approached the crossing.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit filed recently in Kosciusko Circuit Court were CSX Transportation Inc. and the town of Syracuse and its board of trustees.
Court documents claim negligence on the part of CSX because the railroad owns two sets of tracks at the Front Street crossing, which "is an extra hazardous crossing." The town is named in the lawsuit because of the lack of adequate warning devices at the crossing, the lawsuit states.
The documents note Front Street is "frequently used by bicyclists of a youthful age, particularly in the summer months when school is out" and that it, for several years, "had a high volume of daily train traffic at speeds in excess of speeds permitted on Syracuse streets, with physical obstructions to the view by southbound travelers on Front Street of westbound trains on the CSX tracks."
The freight train that struck Shear was westbound on the north set of tracks when the child attempted to cross the tracks headed south.
The lawsuit claims the town failed "to provide proper warnings, pavement markings and signage for the extra hazardous grade crossing."
The attorneys for the Shears are R. Kent Rowe III of Rowe & Rowe, South Bend, and John E. Hughes of Hoeppner, Wagner & Evans, Merrillville. The Shears also seek court costs and request a trial by jury.
