Brightline Crossing Crashes in Fort Lauderdale: Who Is Responsible When a Train Hits a Car

Fort Lauderdale lives with its rail crossings. The tracks cut through downtown and cross major streets such as Broward Boulevard, Sunrise Boulevard, and Davie Boulevard. Passenger trains pass through them dozens of times a day, far faster than the freight trains drivers grew up with.

This summer brought the first good news in years. Federal officials reported a real drop in collisions on the corridor. The risk has not gone away, though, and each Brightline crossing crash raises the same question. When a train hits a car, who is legally responsible?

What Changed on the Corridor in 2026

On June 15, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a milestone. Trespassing incidents and train and vehicle collisions fell 30 percent in the first quarter of 2026. The comparison was to the same months of 2025.

The department credited a crossing upgrade program. As of June 5, crews had finished work at 173 of 327 crossings between Miami and Cocoa. The project includes:

• 33 miles of fencing along the tracks
• Painted zones on the pavement that show where a train’s path extends
• New striping and flexible posts that stop drivers from weaving around gates
• “Do Not Stop on Tracks” signs
• Crisis support signs along the route

That progress also means nearly half of the crossings still awaited upgrades in June. Broward County has its own federal grant to improve 21 crossings.

The need is clear. An investigation by WLRN and the Miami Herald counted 182 deaths involving Brightline trains from 2017 through mid 2025. Sixty-one happened in Broward County. Most involved people on foot or on bicycles. Twenty-four of the people killed were inside vehicles.

What Florida Law Requires of Drivers at a Crossing

Drivers will find their duties in section 316.1575 of the Florida Statutes. A driver approaching a crossing must stop between 15 and 50 feet from the nearest rail when any of these is true:

• The warning lights are flashing.
• A gate is lowered, or a flagger signals a train.
• An approaching train sounds a warning or is close enough to be a hazard.
• A train is plainly visible and dangerously near.

The driver may go only when the tracks are clear. The statute also bars anyone from driving around, under, or through a gate that is down or moving.

The entire 26 mile rail corridor through Broward County is a federal quiet zone. It took effect in 2019. Trains there do not routinely sound their horns at crossings. Drivers must rely on the lights and gates, not on their ears.

Who Can Be Liable After a Brightline Crossing Crash

Many people assume the driver on the tracks is always at fault. Often that is true. It is not the whole story, especially for passengers and for drivers who became trapped.

The Driver of the Car

A passenger injured in a crossing crash usually has a claim against the driver who drove onto the tracks. The passenger did not choose to go around the gate. The driver’s auto liability insurance is the first source of recovery.

Another Motorist

Traffic backs up across these tracks every rush hour. A car stopped at a red light ahead can leave the car behind it stranded on the rails. A driver who rear-ends another car can shove it into the crossing. In those cases, a second motorist may carry much of the blame.

The Railroad Companies

Railroad claims are harder, and readers deserve a straight answer about that. Federal law governs train speed and many warning devices. It blocks some state law claims against rail operators. A train traveling within its federal speed limit is generally not negligent for its speed alone.

Other claims remain open. A gate that failed to lower, lights that did not flash, or a crew that ignored a known hazard can support a case. Trains carry forward-facing cameras and event recorders, and signal systems keep their own logs. Those records show exactly when the gates activated.

Road Agencies

A city, the county, or the state designs and maintains the road leading up to the tracks. Signal timing that traps cars on the rails can create a claim. So can missing pavement markings or blocked sight lines. Claims against government agencies require written notice first. State law also caps damages at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.

Insurance That Covers People Inside the Car

Several policies can apply before anyone proves fault against a railroad or an agency.

• Personal injury protection. Florida’s no-fault coverage pays the first $10,000 of medical bills and lost wages for most occupants.
• The driver’s liability policy. A passenger can claim against it when the driver made the mistake.
• Uninsured motorist coverage. A passenger’s own policy may add protection when the driver carried little or no liability insurance.
• Medical payments coverage. This optional coverage fills gaps that no-fault benefits leave.

Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage in most cases. Many do not. That gap makes a passenger’s own policy more valuable than most people expect.

How Shared Fault Works in These Cases

Florida assigns each party a percentage of fault. Since 2023, a person who is more than 50 percent responsible for their own harm recovers nothing.

That rule is harsh for a driver who went around a lowered gate. A jury will likely place most of the fault on that driver. The claim probably fails.

The outcome differs when the driver did nothing reckless. Consider a driver on Broward Boulevard who stops behind the white line. Traffic ahead moves, she follows, and then it stops again with her car on the tracks. The gates come down behind her. Her share of fault may be small. The shares of the road agency, the signal design, or another driver may be large.

Passengers face no such problem. The 50 percent bar applies to a person’s own fault, and a passenger rarely has any.

Deadlines and Evidence

Florida gives injured people two years to file a negligence lawsuit. A family’s wrongful death claim carries the same two year limit, counted from the day the person died.

Evidence moves faster than the deadline. A request to preserve these records should go out within days:

• The train’s forward camera video and event recorder data
• Crossing signal logs showing gate and light activation times
• Traffic signal timing records for the nearby intersection
• Video from nearby businesses and city cameras
• The police crash report and witness names
• Maintenance history for that crossing

If Your Car Stalls or Gets Trapped on the Tracks

1. Get everyone out of the car at once.
2. Move away from the tracks at an angle toward the oncoming train, so debris flies past you.
3. Find the blue emergency sign posted at the crossing. It lists a phone number and a crossing number.
4. Call that number, then call 911.
5. Never go back for belongings.

How Milano Legal Group Can Help

Crossing cases involve more parties and more records than an ordinary collision. We send preservation demands to the railroad, the road agency, and nearby businesses at the outset. We sort out which driver, company, or agency contributed. Then we pursue each one under the rules that apply to it. Learn more about our local practice on our Fort Lauderdale car accidents page. Families who lost someone can read our Fort Lauderdale wrongful death page.

We work on a contingency basis, so there are no fees unless we win. Call Milano Legal Group today at 855-545-1777 for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. Serving clients throughout Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas.