Atwood v. Chicago Transit Authority

On March 23, 1983, at approximately 8:25 a.m., James Cockrell was the motorman of a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) train that was leaving eastbound from the Kildare station. That station is 15 or 20 feet west of Kildare between two sets of tracks (eastbound and westbound), which are at grade level. One set of gates blocks automobiles on Kildare, a smaller pair stops pedestrian traffic at the two sidewalks. Just after the train left the station, it struck plaintiff Timothy Atwood, then nine years old, who was on his way to the train to go to school. Through his stepmother, plaintiff filed…