Posted on 03/17/2004 4:25:41 PM PST by PeaceBeWithYou
METRORail Encounters 26th Accident, 1st Pedestrian-Involved IncidentHOUSTON -- An ambulance transporting a pedestrian struck by a METRORail train near Reliant Park is involved in an accident as it transported the victim to a hospital Wednesday afternoon, News2Houston reported.
News2Houston reported a man was struck by the light-rail train around 4:05 p.m. in the 8200 block of Fannin near Holly Hall.
A crew with the Houston Fire Department treated the victim at the scene. The victim reportedly suffered a broken hand and some cuts. He was transported to a nearby hospital.
However, as the ambulance was en route to hospital, a woman driver collided with the emergency vehicle around 4:25 p.m. only a few blocks away.
Officials said the 50- to 60-year-old train accident victim did not receive any new injuries from this accident.
A new ambulance showed up at the scene and transported the mother and her three children as a precaution.
A witness told officials that the woman who collided with the ambulance was trying to run a red light.
METRO officials told News2Houston the pedestrian struck by the light-rail train reportedly stepped in front of the train illegally.
This is the 26th accident involving a METRORail train since the system began operating in November. This is the first accident involving a pedestrian, according to METRO officials.
Stupid person.
METRO officials told News2Houston the pedestrian struck by the light-rail train reportedly stepped in front of the train illegally.
Stupid person.
As always, a FReep mail will get you on or off this Houston and Texas topics ping list.
The pace has obviously quickened. Light rail only covers 7.5 miles in Houston today. The carnage figures in 20 years should be really impressive.
Not likely. The current segment is in the Medical Center of Houston, a magnet to patients seeking treatment from around the world, not just America. It was a dangerous place to drive for native Houstonians before the train was put down in the middle of the street.
People are constantly looking for addresses, buildings, and parking garages. Add unfamiliar warning lights, a train that runs silently and unexpectedly, and there's not much optimism that the accident rate will drop a whole lot in future years.
The last real report said we were on pace for 44 for the year, the worst record in light rail startup in US history.
I don't know where you got that, but it's way off. In fact, I just went through the list of Wham-Bam-Tram crashes and at no time since the second public operation accident on 1/13, has the accident rate been that low. On 1/13, the rate was one crash every 6.5 days or 56 crashes per year and it rapidly increased after that (I include pedestrian accidents only when there is an injury reported).
Today, we are on track for 98.3 crashes in the first year.
Do the math. It has been 78 days and there have been 21 crashes or pedestrian injury accidents since 1/1/4.
78 days / 21 crashes = a crash every 3.71 days
365 days per year / 3.71 days = 98.3 crashes projected in a year.
Furthermore, according to a KHOU report, the Wham-Bam-Tram has already had more crashes in the first two months of operation than any rail system in any other city had in the first year of operation. Not only that, but the Wham-Bam-Tram route is much shorter than the routes of any of those other trains.
The Wham-Bam-Tram is crashing at a rate at least six times greater than any other train system in any other city ever did. You would think that someone at Metro would realize that something is seriously flawed in the design of the Wham-Bam-Tram.
On the other hand, I hear that the engineers and city planners who came up with the design have applied to the US Attorney's Office for inclusion in the Witness Protection Program. 8^)
It was about a month ago, when the count was in the teens.
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