On April 22, 2013, plaintiffs’ decedent Petronilo Fernandez-Lopez, 53, an irrigator farm worker who sets up irrigation lines for farm work, was driving his 1986 Ford pick-up truck at J.D. McGrath Farms, a farm located at 5100 Olivas Park Drive, in Ventura. Also located on the private property was a railroad track that ran through an easement owned by Longford Partners LP, which has farms on both sides of the track. Fernandez-Lopez’s vehicle was stopped on the north track, facing southbound, when a westbound Amtrak train broadsided Fernandez-Lopez’s vehicle. Fernandez-Lopez sustained to his head and subsequently died. The decedent’s adult daughter (plaintiff Maricruz Fernandez) and adult sons (plaintiffs Juan Fernandez, Marco Fernandez, Luis Fernandez, Jorge Fernandez, and Pedro Fernandez) sued maintainer of the property, J.D. McGrath Farms; the property owner, Longford Partners LP; the operator of the Amtrak locomotive, National Railroad Passenger Corp. (doing business as Amtrak); the owner of the railroad track, Union Pacific Railroad Co.; as well as the county of Ventura, the state of California, and the People of the state of California acting by and through the Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the train operator was negligent and that the design of the private railroad crossing constituted a dangerous condition, as there was not a good line of sight for vehicles crossing the track. Additionally, counsel contended that there was no crossing arm that came down to separate the vehicle from the track. National Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad contended that their engineer was complying with speed requirements and was driving reasonably. They also contended that Fernandez-Lopez drove in front of the train and stopped and that the train engineer could not avoid the accident at that point. J.D. McGrath Farms and Longford contended that they did not own, possess, or control the railroad crossing and that the railroad did. They also contended that there was nothing dangerous about the crossing and that it followed all laws and regulation. The county, state and Caltrans were dismissed from the case. In addition, National Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad ultimately reached a confidential agreement with the decedent’s family, and were also dismissed from the case. Thus, the matter continued against J.D. McGrath Farms and Longford Partners., Fernandez-Lopez suffered head trauma and internal , causing him to bleed from his mouth. He was subsequently rushed to a hospital, but he ultimately died on May 2, 2013. He was 53 years old. He was survived by an adult daughter and five adult sons, all who reside in Mexico The decedent’s family sought recovery of damages for the wrongful death of their father.