Articles Posted in Train Accidents

According to a federal safety panel, Terrese Edmonds, the train operator who failed adhere to a red stop signal, causing the May 2008 Newton, Massachusetts train accident, may have fallen asleep because she was suffering from an undiagnosed sleep disorder.

Tests indicate that there was Doxylamine in Edmond’s urine. The drug is an over-the-counter sleeping aid. Officials say that the 24-year-old train operator should have stopped her trolley for a minute and then kept the train going at 10mph because of the red signal, which indicated there was a train up ahead. Investigators say that instead, the trolley that Edmonds was operating drove into another train at a speed of 38mph.

Seven people were injured in the Newton train crash, which took place in May 2008. The panel says if the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had used an automated train control system, the fatal Massachusetts green line accident could have been avoided. Other MBTA lines use this automatic braking system.

Investigators also say they discovered broken electrical connections between the track sections. Because train operators are not required to report faulty train signals-a safety risk-this also could have contributed to the deadly Newton, Massachusetts train collision.

Other safety issues discovered during the National Transportation Safety Board Investigation:
• No positive train control system.
• Poor coordination between crew members about signal indicators.
• Inadequate reporting requirements regarding possible signal malfunctions.
• Failure to screen rail transit operators for possible obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea
This is a common disorder. Because a person may have problems sleeping at night, he or she may be prone to excessive sleepiness during the daytime. Many people don’t know that they suffer from sleep apnea-a condition that can be fatal if the person with this disorder is a truck driver, a train operator, or another motorist behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

There are tests that the operators of common carrier vehicles can take to determine whether they have this disorder that could put their passengers at risk.

Sleep disorder likely factor in fatal Newton Green Line trolley crash, Boston Herald, July 14, 2009
NTSB executive summary of findings in Green Line crash, Boston.com, July 14, 2009
Conductor Killed In Newton Train Collision, WBZ, May 29, 2008

Related Web Resources:
American Sleep Apnea Association

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
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As our Boston MBTA accident lawyers at Altman & Altman, LLP know, the injuries and damages from a serious train crash can be devastating. Just yesterday in Washington DC, at least 9 people died and over 70 people were taken to local hospitals after one subway train rammed into another train during the rush hour commute.

The force of impact from one train colliding with the other was so strong that the striking train became compressed to approximately one-third its actual size, and a number of people were crushed to death. Rescuers had to use a crane to locate some of the bodies and firefighters had to use other heavy equipment to cut open the cars and rescue the survivors that were trapped inside.

8 of the people that died were train passengers. Jeanice McMillan, the train operator of the striking train, was also killed in the deadly train collision.

The National Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine the cause of the deadly train crash. Some of the possible factors under consideration include signal failure, mechanical problems, computer failure, and train operator error. Investigators are working to retrieve recorders from the train that was hit. The train that initiated the collision, however, is an older train that does not come with this device.

NTSB official Debbie Hersman says that a few years ago, the NTSB had recommended that the older fleet either be retrofitted or phased out. Back then, the NTSB noted safety problems involving trains rolling back on the tracks and operators being unable to stop the them.

Hersman says it is “unacceptable” that Metro did not act on the recommendations. Metro says that it has, however, upgraded the emergency exits and braking systems of the older trains. The striking train in Monday’s crash belongs to the 1000 series of trains that, according to the Washington Post, is now being phased out. These trains make up 30% of the Metrorail’s train fleet. Officials are calling Monday’s train collision the worst in the Metrorail’s history.

NTSB: Train in crash was recommended for phaseout, Boston.com, June 23, 2009
Nine Killed in Red Line Crash, The Washington Post, June 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Metro Home Page
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According to the Boston Herald, T substance abuse test results in the last three years show that 77 MBTA trolley operators, bus drivers, and train operators had tested positive for alcohol or drug use. Despite these results, only 21 of these MBTA workers were fired, while 2 other employees resigned.

Substance abuse by MBTA workers became an issue of scrutiny last month after trolley operators involved in two separate Green Line trolley crashes were fired after they took drug tests after the accidents and failed them. The MBTA has a two-strike policy for workers caught using substances.

The T randomly tests all workers employed in positions considered “safety sensitive.” Anyone who fails testing is suspended for 40 days without pay. However, unless a vehicle crash or train collision is a factor, the worker usually gets a second chance.

Out of the 77 workers that did not pass T’s random drug testing, 54 of them received the 40-day suspension penalty but kept their jobs. About 8,700 MBTA workers have undergone random testing since 2006. Of the 21 employees that were fired, three of them were street car operators, 12 of them were bus drivers, and two of them were train operators.

Critics of this two-strike policy say that the MBTA should have a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol or drug use. Some 1.3 million rides occur on MBTA buses, trains, and trollies each week. A drugged out bus driver or a drunken trolley operator can cause serious injuries to train passengers, motorists, and pedestrians if their impairment prevents them from operating their vehicle properly and safely.

MBTA passengers injured in bus collisions, train accidents, or trolley crashes may have grounds to file an MBTA injury claim if their accident occurred because the T operator acted negligently or carelessly. The MBTA is required to hire qualified workers who will do their jobs in a manner that protects passenger safety. Failure to fulfill this duty can be grounds for a Massachusetts personal injury case.

T Workers Who Failed Drug Tests Still On Job, WCVB, December 17, 2008
Review: 54 MBTA workers failed drug tests but still on job, Boston Herald, December 17, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

T suspends, will fire two after Green Line crashes, Boston Herald, November 22, 2008 Continue reading

A Massachusetts Transportation Bay Authority spokesperson says that two MBTA workers who were involved in separate Green Line train accidents over the last week tested positive for alcohol or drugs. Both employees have been suspended without pay until the formal process for firing them is concluded.

In one of the Massachusetts train accidents, seven people were taken to local hospitals after they complained of neck and head pain following a rear-end crash between two trolleys at Boylston Station last Friday. The 39-year-old operator of the trolley that rear-ended the other trolley tested positive for cocaine.

On Monday, a Boston College student who was wearing headphones while crossing the railroad tracks was struck by an MBTA train. Michael Cordo sustained facial lacerations and serious head injuries. Witnesses say that Cordo did not hear the train operator blow the horn. The 33-year-old rear-car operator tested positive for alcohol at a level above the MBTA’s .02% limit.

Although alcohol or drug use is not cited as the cause of either train crash, the fact that the two workers that were involved in the recent train accidents tested positive for substance use raises questions about how much substance abuse occurs among MBTA workers. Everyday, thousands of Massachusetts commuters ride in trains operated by MBTA employees who are entrusted with safely transporting them to their destinations.

Impaired Driving
It is dangerous to operate a car, train, bus, motorcycle, truck, or any other motor vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Drunk or drugged driving affects a driver’s reflexes and ability to think clearly and can increase the chances of a motor vehicle crash occurring. A Massachusetts train collision can result in serious personal injuries for hundreds of train passengers and other motorists and pedestrians.

2 at T may be fired in crashes, Boston.com, November 21, 2008
College student struck by Green Line train, BostonHerald.com, November 17, 2008
Trolley collision injures 7, delays Green Line, Boston.com, November 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Trolley Drivers Undergo Seven Weeks Of Training, WBTZ.com, May 29, 2008 Continue reading

Min Perry, a woman who sustained serious injuries in the last month’s Green Line train crash in Newton is suing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for personal injury.

Perry sustained leg fractures and other injuries after she was pinned underneath scrap metal when the Green line trolley she was riding in collided with another train on May 28. Special equipment had to be used to extricate the 37-year-old accident victim, who was sitting behind the train operator, from the wreckage.

Several other people sustained serious injuries, and the train operator, 24-year-old Boston resident Terese Edmonds, died in the crash.

In Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts, three people who were injured on March 25 when a runaway freight train hit an MBTA commuter train in Canton, have filed a personal injury lawsuit against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., CSX Transportation, and Cohenno Inc.

150 people were hurt in the accident that happened after a shipping depot allegedly neglected to secure a freight car on its property, causing it to escape from the yard, roll onto the Stoughton rail line, and strike the rush hour train.

Some 120 people had already filed claims against the MBTA, and this is the first personal injury lawsuit. The plaintiffs are Easton resident Vickie Beaulieu, Stoughton resident Jennifer Kimbrel, and Canton resident Mary Ellon Gleason.

In Newton, Massachusetts, eleven National Transportation Safety Board investigators are examining the Green Line Trolley that rear-ended another train yesterday. The deadly Massachusetts train accident left an MBTA operator dead, seriously injured seven passengers, and had emergency medics treating five other people at the crash scene for cuts and bruises. Some other passengers that had left the accident scene on their own checked themselves into hospitals later.

The train operator, 24-year-old Boston resident Teresa Edmonds, died at the accident scene. Rescue workers finally managed to remove her body from the train wreck about 7 hours after the crash.

The Massachusetts train collision occurred around 6pm during rush hour on Wednesday when a two-car outbound Green Line train ran into another two-car train that was stopped at a red light signal. Both trains were leaving Boston.

About 200 people were on both trains at the time of the collision. A number of passengers were thrown from their seats.

The federal investigators are here to analyze the condition of the signals and the track, the performance of dispatchers and trolley operators, and the emergency response.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Safety Analysis says 951 people died and over 11,000 others got hurt in the 14,355 train accidents that occurred in 2002.

Investigation begins into fatal crash on Green Line, Boston.com, May 29, 2008
Trolley operator dies after collision in Newton, Boston.com, May 28, 2008
Eight injured in Green Line train crash in Newton, Mass., The Daily News Tribune, May 28, 2008

Related Web Resources:

MBTA

National Transportation Safety Board
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