Teaneck woman hit by train while rushing to catch it files lawsuit

Tom Nobile | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: NJ Transit service temporarily suspended in River Edge NJ Transit service temporarily suspended in River Edge on Wednesday after someone was hit.

A Teaneck woman who survived being struck by an NJ Transit train in River Edge is suing for negligence and reckless conduct, claiming the state transportation agency failed to activate the gates and warning systems in time.

Babette Guerrero's attorney said she had rushed across the platform at the New Bridge Landing station in December to catch a morning train into New York City when she was hit by a train traveling 40 mph.

Philip Wiskow, Guerrero's attorney, said NJ Transit is culpable even though Guerrero had slipped under the falling gate. The conductor, he said, should have triggered the alert signals while father away from the platform. Rather, the train pulled up to the station seconds after the gate fell, Wiskow said.

“You don’t just put the gate down as the train is 50 feet away,” he said. “These whistles and bells should have been on for at least 30 seconds, if not longer.”

The lawsuit, filed last Tuesday in Superior Court, charges the conductor and NJ Transit at large with “failing to reasonably operate one or more of its gates and warning system.”

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An NJ Transit spokesperson declined to comment.

Guerrero, 57, worked as an executive in New York, Wiskow said. The accident left her with 26 fractures and hospitalized her for weeks, followed by months of rehab and multiple follow-up surgeries.

The injuries are “severe and painful” and have resulted in lost time from her job and exorbitant medical expenses, the suit states.

Before Guerrero's accident, the River Edge station had no reported accidents in the previous five years, according to federal data.

The last known fatality occurred in 2012, when a woman was struck about 500 feet from the station as the train crossed Main Street.