Train Operator Sent 29 Texts on Crash Day(last 22 seconds before crash)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

A train operator at the helm during a deadly collision last month sent 29 text messages while on the job that day -- including one just 22 seconds before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Wednesday.

Cell phone records examined by the safety board indicate that the Metrolink engineer was sending text messages on both his morning and evening shift the day of the accident.

The September 12 train crash killed 25 commuters in California and left many other people injured when the Metrolink train collided head-on with a Union Pacific train.

The morning of the collision, the operator sent 24 messages and received 21 in just over two hours, records now reveal. Back at work later that day, the train operator received seven more text messages and sent five more, including one less than 25 seconds before the crash, the NTSB found.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/AheadoftheCurve/story?id=5930052&page=1

[Billy Burnett]

1. Good thing he wasn't smoking dope.

:smoke:

[Tab]

2. It blows me away that there is no backup system

What if he had a sneezing fit? What if he was dizzy and sat back for a second? What if he had a heart attack?

One person is the only thing to keep two high-speed trains from colliding?

There obviously is fail-safe technology for this stuff - the fact that it was never installed is a tragedy.

[alstephenson]

4. There are "systems".

The most effective system is to have TWO operators at all times. In lieu of that, there is a system that basically sounds an alert every couple of minutes. If the operator doesn't manually turn the alert off within a short period of time, the train stops. No rocket science, just common sense that may or may not have prevented this terrible accident.

[cosmicone]

7. Every 2 minutes won't work because

a train can run a red light and be in the path of another in a few seconds.

The system used in many countries is for the operator to keep his foot pressed against a foot-pedal and hold a squeeze balloon sqeezed in his hand to operate the train. If either is let go, the train stops.

[Lifetimedem]

12. Geeez that sounds like WORK

[alstephenson]

42. Sounds reasonable.

[Mika]

14. Trains have a dead man's switch/button that has to be pushed within 2 min of the last push.

If it isn't pushed then the train automatically brakes, stops and sends an emergency radio signal.

Doesn't mean the engineer is paying attention to rail signals, etc..



-

[slackmaster]

3. Dumbass

[Indenturedebtor]

5. Was the last one "OH SHIT!!!!!!!" ?

Cellphones should not be allowed for anyone operating heavy machinery.

[grantcart]

9. Skinner, I thk new rating system sucks.

[Indenturedebtor]

10. Lol or "You are teh bailout economix noob!" n/t

[Poseidan]

6. ....hmm

Instead of outlawing text messaging, why not have a system letting the operator know when it is time to change tracks (or whatever)?

It's like speeding... they shouldn't have signs everywhere, half of them hidden behind tree's. There should be devices inside cars, letting us know at all times what the speed limit is on whatever road we're on. It's an easy system... instead of signs, you have electronic transmitters feeding the data into your car.

[postman07]

8. We're missing the big picture

The guy was working a double shift and we blame him for texting. Yes he probably shouldn't have been doing this, but what about the fact that he was working a double, probably not getting paid enough for his work do to some high level guy wanting to cut costs. If the system was set up so that a person was making a good paycheck from this job and that they had regulatory practices to avoiding someone working a double in this type of work, maybe this wouldn't happen.

[Scout]

11. oh for fuck's sake, how ridiculous can you get?

how about just not sending text messages when you're supposed to be DRIVING A HIGH SPEED PASSENGER TRAIN?

i find nothing else to blame EXCEPT the driver in this instance.

i'd be really interested to find out the content of those texts.

[bertman]

13. AMEN, SCOUT!!! Train drivers, bus drivers, taxi drivers, ferry boat pilots, all need to be paying

total attention to their jobs. Period. Cell phones have become a disease.

[Jazzgirl]

27. They are not supposed to be using a cell in any capacity

while the train is moving. At least.....that's the way it is on our railroad. I have to check but it might be an FRA requirement.

[roody]

41. automobile drivers also!!!

[EFerrari]

20. Than I hope you're not an employee manager.

Tired people trying to stay awake try to find things to do.

Geezus.

ETA: I agree with you 100%, postman.

[Scout]

32. i hope YOU'RE not an employee manager!

there is absolutely no excuse for text messaging while driving a train.

absolutely none.

i am and have been an employee manager, and if you are that bored at work, then i will give you some work to do. if you can't stay awake, you need to go home and get some sleep.


edit typo

[Xithras]

15. Most engineers make $30+ an hour

And the benefit packages at the railroads are nothing to sneeze at.

Not a career I'd want though. Most modern rail yards are completely computer controlled (as in, the trains drive themselves with NO humans onboard AT ALL), and as faith in that technology grows it's expected that eventually even passenger and cargo trains will do the same. The job of the railroad engineer, during the next 20 years, will be reduced to staring out the front window to identify obstacles that the computer can't detect (like idiots running crossing arms) and hitting a big red EMERGENCY button when something goes wrong. At that point, with little actual skill involved, most people expect railroad engineers wages to plumment. It will become a job that any idiot with an index finger and two eyeballs can do, and it will have a pay level reflecting that.

[redqueen]

18. Until they no longer have to witness horrific suicides & accidents,

I doubt the pay will decrease, because it's not something people want to see.

[Xithras]

22. So they might be as highly paid as an...EMT.

Where I live, most EMT's are part time and make under $20 an hour. Newbies start under $15.

EMT's see and deal with even worse horrors all day long. If the best they can pull is the low 20's, it's hard to imagine that engineers will do much better.

Also keep in mind that railroads recruit nationally. $15 an hour might seem like garbage wages to someone living in New York, but the railroads can simply recruit engineers from Arkansas instead.

[redqueen]

24. EMT's do not see people step out in front of them

in order to to kill themselves.

[Jazzgirl]

28. I know Engineers that make six figures easily.

Especially in California. It pays really, really, really good but the responsibility is huge. Kind of like a pilot.

[Quantess]

29. Yes, which may explain the notoriously high turnover rate of EMTs.

[SharonAnn]

38. He didn't work for the railroad. They contracted him through another company.

I'm sure that either a cost-savihng measure or a reward the cronies measure.

He may not have had an adequate salary or good benefits. In this kind of situation, the company that's providing the contract workers tries to get as much work as possible and pay as little as possible. That's how they make the most money.

[redqueen]

16. Nurses have to work double shifts way too often, too.

Aside from the fact that he shouldn't have been txting at work... having these kinds of professions short-staffed is nothing short of asking for trouble.

[Gormy Cuss]

33. Split shift, not a double. The article states 11 1/2 hours.

It's not clear if that's 11 1/2 working hours or the elapsed time from beginning of the morning shift to the end of the second shift. According to the article he worked from 6 AM to 10:30, took a nap during his 3 1/2 hour break then reported for the second shift at 2 PM. Article doesn't say what hour would have been quitting time for him that day.

I know that seems like a crazy schedule to those who don't work it but it's not that uncommon in mass transit. If the schedule was 3 11-1/2 hour days on, four days off it's not much different than the regular 12 hour shifts put in by some nurses and other workers.

I've pulled doubles and it was substantially harder for me because so much of the second shift was after dark. I worked 10 hour days frequently and 12 hour days were no big deal, but it was a long day.

[TankLV]

35. oh, for chrissake...IF YOU CAN'T DO THE JOB, THEN QUIT!

or don't accept that job in the first place!

wow, just, wow...

[Duer 157099]

17. I don't think that texting is either the problem or the issue

What I mean is, as another poster upthread as pointed out, ANY distraction could have caused this crash -- it just happened to be that because it was texting, there was an accurate time-stamped record of the distraction. And 20 seconds is just about the exact time it would take to travel from where the red light was to where the crash occured.

So, to me, the point is that they were able to discern the actual cause of the distraction and thus the crash -- not that texting in and of itself is the problem.

If there were timestamps on the toilet and he was pissing 22 seconds before the crash, then what, we'd think the problem was taking bathroom breaks? (and how do they manage that anyway? what if he *did* have to be in the bathroom at that moment?)

[redqueen]

19. Thank you!

Very well said.

[EFerrari]

21. When I was an "0" operator, we weren't allowed to do ANYTHING

but take calls. Not doodle, not read, not chew gum or talk to the person next to us.

AND, we were often made to work overtime and even double shifts and even with no notice.

It was really, really hard to just stay awake sometimes. There are hours of overtime I don't even remember because I was asleep awake and somehow got it done. We weren't in charge of a vehicle carrying passengers, thank God. But if we had been, I would have had to just try to make it work or lose my job.

There is no way these drivers should be made to work double shifts. :shrug:

[Duer 157099]

25. Yikes, that sounds like a form of torture!

Agree about double shifts for anyone doing any job that involves safety, but this could have happened if he were fresh too -- the main problem was lack of a failsafe system, which is so do-able, which is what makes this so tragic.

[EFerrari]

26. Agreed. There should never only be one brain between the lives

of so many people and death or injury. :shrug:

ETA: It could be like a form of torture. My son was attacked by two dogs and they wouldn't release me to take him to the hospital because I hadn't made six months yet -- and this was a UNION job. We were bodies and that's pretty much all we were.

[Plucketeer]

23. What a crack-up!

You're at the helm of a high-speed commuter train and you feel the VERY urgent need to pee. Hmmmm - lessee......... hundreds of innocent lives in my hands - or takin' a whiz? I think it'd be alot easier to explain to your super that you HAD to wet your pants cause you felt a sense of duty given the lives you're entrusted with! :crazy:

I was damned near hit in traffic the other day. And I watched as the gal driving the other vehicle was texting and trying to watch her driving. So just what would have been her excuse if we'd collided? "Sorry, I had to find out what my mom wanted on her pizza!"

[TankLV]

36. "pie-ta-tube"

they use them on airplanes - kinda like pissing in a bottle only with a permanent "hookup" (I'll leave it to your imagination)...

now if they could just add a vibrator - we'd have REALLY happy pilots!!!

don't know if I spelled it right...

[bertman]

39. Texting not only requires attention to the message, but also frequent looking at the screen to

be sure you've got it right. Not exactly something that allows one to remain attentive to his/her work.

Pardon my being so crass as to suggest that cell phone use should not be allowed anywhere, everywhere and under whatever circumstances. Especially on a job where there might be a catastrophic accident if one's attention is diverted--even for a second or two.

The point is that someone who is driving a train, bus, etc. shouldn't be doing ANYTHING that would affect his/her ability to react instantly. It's just a requirement of the job. Or should be.

And probably will be, after this tragedy.

I know you're just being sarcastic with the toilet remark. Right?

[ohio2007]

30. one track mind ........nt

[Coventina]

31. I hope every victim's family sues for wrongful death.

Their loved ones died due to negligence, pure and simple.

You can blame the texting or the lack of a back-up system, or a combination thereof.

People who are responsible for operating vehicles SHOULD NOT BE TEXTING!

But it's also beyond belief that there are not better safety standards for trains.

[rocktivity]

34. We mustn't assume that he had BOTH his hands off the train's steering wheel

Maybe he texted with one hand while driving with the other. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt...after all, that's the cornerstone of the legal system!

:eyes:
rocknation

[TankLV]

37. yeah - that'll help...

NOT!

[rainbow4321]

40. A Dallas woman got video one of our city bus drivers texting while driving

Given that I use the system twice a day, to and from work--both the bus and light rail system, this is not really what I wanted to read in the days following the California crash. Two nights ago I was taking the bus to my neighborhood from the train station and the bus driver was on her frigging phone as she pulled around in the parking lot. She half laughed/said to the person on the other end "I better get off so you don't see me on the news driving while on my cell"

The woman's video (taken with her own cell phone) is at the link, not sure if you have to register to see the article or not. Some of the DMN articles you do have to, others you don't.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/092308dnmetdarttext.9fc516b7.html

There are new concerns that Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus drivers are doing just that, and Joni Hester has the video to prove it.

Ms. Hester said distracted DART drivers are a constant concern for her. She said she sees bus drivers often using their cell phones while driving.

She was so upset that Ms. Hester made a video recording Friday that shows a driver texting while on the road, holding the phone in one hand under the steering wheel.

Ms. Hester isn't the only DART passenger who has a complaint about driver inattention. "Every day they're on their cell phones," said Charles McIntosh. "I tell them, 'Get off your cell phone!' They say, 'Get off my bus!'"