Forget Driving While Texting, Now There's Train Conducting While Texting...
from the im-nt-pying-attntn dept
As you probably heard, Friday afternoon there was a tragic train crash in California, killing a bunch of people. There were some rumors going around over the weekend, and now the press is picking up on a report that the engineer of the Metrolink train that missed a signal leading to the crash may have been text-messaging with someone moments before the accident. It's the type of story that the press loves, though there's not that much evidence other than the claims of the kid on the other end of the text messages. Just as politicians are now pushing through "driving-while-texting" bans, you have to imagine that this will also help push along those initiatives. But, once again, the same issue comes through. The problem isn't text messaging: it's people in control over big, powerful machines (cars or trains) not paying attention the way they're supposed to be paying attention.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Re:
So the point is, banning cell phones or texting or whatever is pointless as it going after one symptom when the root cause is not being addressed (though in this case, the root cause is already addressed but apparently isn't being enforced, which makes this new law even MORE pointless and redundant).
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Re: Re:
Apparently, people are too stupid to realize that these things constitute "distracted driving", so we need laws for every conceivable thing they could do.
We should all feel safer in CA now that you have to be hands-free if you use a cell phone while driving. The commuters who work on their laptops on the freeway aren't any danger at all.
Legistators like to MAKE laws. Who cares about enforcing existing ones? They can't push for that - then it will seem like they're not doing anything. No, they have to pass more laws so people think they're actually doing something.
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Re:
"how about we make it illegal so the stupid a**es that do it can actually get punished, especially when they cost lives"
It already is illegal and they do already get punished for it. It's called manslaughter.
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Re:
To be fair though, I don't think it would've made a whole lot of difference given that there shouldn't have been two different trains on the track at that particular moment.
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Re: Re:
"Switch operator got the message in time, said there's a north bound livin' on the same damn line, open up the switch I'm gonna put him in the hole, cause the monkey's got the locomotive under control" Monkey and the Engineer(traditional folk song)
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Re: department of redundancy department
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/15/train.collision/
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Re:
Accuracy counts.
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The man was an experienced train conductor with at least 12 years of experience. I don't believe that he would have been so easily distracted by a text message, although obviously, this is a horrible thing to do while one is operating a commuter train. However, while he may be at fault for the accident, I do believe he must have had a heart attack.
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text of la times article
The engineer, stationed at the front of the train, and conductor, stationed at the back, customarily call each other to repeat signals seen by the engineer, Higgins said. Officials have listened to recordings and found no indication that the engineer and conductor exchanged information on the last two signals, one of which should have been flashing yellow and the other red. The investigators were unsure whether "dead zones" might have interfered with such communication.
Higgins also disclosed that the Metrolink train "blew through" a switch controlling a junction with a railroad siding closest to the accident site. A data recorder said the Metrolink train was traveling at 42 mph when it passed the switch.
NTSB officials have interviewed a Metrolink dispatcher based in Pomona who said he had set up the signals and the switch so that the Union Pacific freighter and the Metrolink train could pass without incident. But Higgins disputed a Metrolink assertion that the dispatcher had tried to contact the train about a potential collision course, a message that allegedly arrived too late.
"By the time the dispatcher realized there was something wrong, the accident had already occurred," Higgins said. She added that the conductor, who was seriously injured, called the dispatcher to notify him of the accident. The conductor had not been interviewed by her agency, she added.
A Metrolink spokesman earlier Sunday gave a different account, saying that a Metrolink dispatcher had been alerted to the potential crash by a computer signal and tried to warn the engineer that he was about to collide with a freight train. The spokesman said the dispatcher reached the conductor after the crash had occurred.
Metrolink officials said they expected regular service on the Los Angeles-Ventura County line to resume in time for evening rush hour today and made plans to ferry passengers by bus between Ventura County and Chatsworth until then.
Regular riders on the route said the Metrolink train heading toward Simi Valley often stopped at the junction to wait for a Union Pacific freight train headed toward downtown Los Angeles to switch to the siding.
There are four signals leading up to the crash site: at De Soto Avenue, where the siding begins; at Lassen Street; at the platform at the Chatsworth station; and near Nashville Street, where the siding converges with the main line again.
If they were functioning properly, the early signals would have been yellow or red and the final one, red.
Higgins said investigators are awaiting toxicology reports on the engineer, which should be available in two to three weeks.
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why is this such an issue
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Re: why is this such an issue
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Re: why is this such an issue
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Texting
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Accidents happen . . .
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Re: Accidents happen . . .
To say that marijuana does not impede one's judgement is to either not understand weed or not understand judgement. Someone who understands (and respects) both will not mix them.
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Re:
The fact that you can disprove the story as it is outlined will not detract politicians from leveraging it for their own purposes.
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Fox?
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Maybe its true, maybe it isnt
As for texting while driving heavy equipment, if they can use a cell phone jumping from tower to tower to calculate traffic flow then they can use the same method to disable all but voice communications on a cell phone when traveling over 35mph.
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Deadmans handle
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Legislators and laws
First, we'll see all the "do not [blank] while driving" laws passed, then the "do not [blank] while conducting a train", then the "do not [blank] while walking", and maybe "do not [blank] while riding a bicycle".
Could all these "problems" be solved with a single law that said "do not drive while distracted"? Sure, but that's just ONE law and more laws passed by a legislator makes it look like he's working harder.
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