Scary -- train crash engineer was texting

Message

SportsFan68 · #1 Post by **SportsFan68** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:25 pm

Metrolink Engineer Sent Text 22 Seconds Before Crash (Update3)

By Angela Greiling Keane

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- A Los Angeles commuter train engineer sent a text message from his mobile phone 22 seconds before last month's fatal head-on collision with a Union Pacific Corp. freight train in the deadliest U.S. passenger crash in 15 years.

The National Transportation Safety Board finding underscored investigators' focus on how the Metrolink engineer, Robert Sanchez, missed a stop signal that would have allowed the other train to pass. Sanchez died in the Sept. 12 accident.

Sanchez received a text message about a minute and a half before the crash, then sent one, the NTSB said. Metrolink officials have said the carrier prohibits engineers from using personal communications devices while operating trains.

``We are continuing to pursue many avenues of inquiry to find what caused this accident and what can be done to prevent such a tragedy in the future,'' acting NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker said today in a statement.

The accident killed 25 people, the board said, after earlier giving a death toll of 26.

Sanchez, the only person driving the train, worked a split shift on the day of the crash, the NTSB said. During his morning shift ferrying rush-hour commuters, he sent 24 text messages and received 21, the board said, citing Sanchez's subpoenaed telephone records.

``To have an engineer in an hour be part of 45 text messages is not what an operating engineer should be doing,'' Senator Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat, said today as the Senate debated a rail safety bill, in which congressional interest was renewed following the crash.

During his second shift, when he began operating the Metrolink train about 80 minutes before the accident, he sent five text messages and received seven, the safety board said.

``Text messaging is something that takes your eyes off the tracks,'' said Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. ``You shouldn't be doing that.''

The U.S. Senate today voted to approve a bill that would require railroads to install technology by 2015 that would automatically stop trains in the event of a missed stop signal, as occurred in the Metrolink crash. President George Bush hasn't said whether he will sign the measure.

Estonut · #2 Post by **Estonut** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:18 am

Do we have any train afficionados here who know why there isn't a system in place to automatically stop a train that is approaching a red signal? Is it just money?

BackInTex · #3 Post by **BackInTex** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:41 am

Estonut wrote:Do we have any train afficionados here who know why there isn't a system in place to automatically stop a train that is approaching a red signal? Is it just money?

Got to be money, or union issues.

All the 'trains' that are un-manned at the airports know when to go and when not to. If the light is red there is a mechanical signal to turn it red, so there is a signal to make the train stop, if they so desired it to.

John Rocker · #4 Post by **John Rocker** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:27 am

Estonut wrote:Do we have any train afficionados here who know why there isn't a system in place to automatically stop a train that is approaching a red signal? Is it just money?

Probably because too many of the ^@#&*@ train riders are on welfare and don't even pay their fares! Lousy ^#@@^ purple haired degenerates! Just thinking about it makes me sicker than the time I saw Randall Simon in the shower...

VAdame · #5 Post by **VAdame** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:12 am

John Rocker wrote:
Estonut wrote:Do we have any train afficionados here who know why there isn't a system in place to automatically stop a train that is approaching a red signal? Is it just money?

Probably because too many of the ^@#&*@ train riders are on welfare and don't even pay their fares! Lousy ^#@@^ purple haired degenerates! Just thinking about it makes me sicker than the time I saw Randall Simon in the shower...

John you're off your rocker...
better clean out your locker
Or go out & throw about 22 perfect games
And even if you're not
They're savin' you a spot
next to Marge Schott in the Dipshit Hall of Fame!

SportsFan68 · #6 Post by **SportsFan68** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:43 am

VAdame wrote:
John Rocker wrote:
Estonut wrote:Do we have any train afficionados here who know why there isn't a system in place to automatically stop a train that is approaching a red signal? Is it just money?

Probably because too many of the ^@#&*@ train riders are on welfare and don't even pay their fares! Lousy ^#@@^ purple haired degenerates! Just thinking about it makes me sicker than the time I saw Randall Simon in the shower...
John you're off your rocker...
better clean out your locker
Or go out & throw about 22 perfect games
And even if you're not
They're savin' you a spot
next to Marge Schott in the Dipshit Hall of Fame!

VAdame wins for best limerick today!

OK, this week!

OK, month!

Oh, what the heck -- VAdame wins!

No Eye Deer · #7 Post by **No Eye Deer** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:02 am

Do they have any job openings at the railroad?

Referee Phil Luckett · #8 Post by **Referee Phil Luckett** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:05 am

No Eye Deer wrote:Do they have any job openings at the railroad?

Have you tried the NFL?

Tattooed Whore · #9 Post by **Tattooed Whore** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:06 am

Referee Phil Luckett wrote:
No Eye Deer wrote:Do they have any job openings at the railroad?

Have you tried the NFL?

Most of them.

Jim Everett · #10 Post by **Jim Everett** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:07 am

Tattooed Whore wrote:
Referee Phil Luckett wrote:
No Eye Deer wrote:Do they have any job openings at the railroad?

Have you tried the NFL?
Most of them.

Geez, why couldn't Carolina have been in the league when I was around!

Ever been to LA, baby?