The River LINE operator who died in a crash Monday was 41-year-old Jessica Haley of Levittown, a mother of three, according to an attorney preparing to sue NJ Transit on her family’s behalf.
The cause of the fatal accident — a fallen tree on the tracks — was a known hazard, the lawyer says.
Haley died early Monday in a crash shortly after 6 a.m. on the River LINE’s tracks north of the Roebling, N.J., station.
The predawn crash was not the first to involve track obstructions, said Kila Baldwin, the Haley family’s attorney.
She said Haley’s two sisters also were River LINE conductors and knew of similar hazards in the area of the crash.
One of the sisters, Rebecca Haley, said trees along that section of the River LINE “were troublesome for years and other trains had hit downed trees in recent years.””The train conductors complained for years that something had to be done and even suggested having a track car go down the southbound track where Jessica was killed in advance of any passenger cars traveling that way,” Baldwin said in a statement.