"The text message sent by the engineer to Nick Williams, one of a group of teen train enthusiasts." CBS "The text message sent by the engineer to Nick Williams, one of a group of teen train enthusiasts." CBS if true,
that’d be funny,
but it’s tragic
not funny.
Does anyone know the exact time of collision?
Just how old was Sanchez?
Texting while driving?
Did he miss seeing the signal because he was texting?
Tragedy aside and it’s cause..... it seems that the dead-man switch would be backed by audible alarms for passing a red light would alert controllers, other trains and the engineer with his head up his butt for what ever reason.
Technology is there I am told..... I would hope !
And I bet the engineer, like all those cell phone junkies (some of them here), liked to say say "I know what I'm doing!" Famous last words.
I didn’t know a train COULD pass a red without the brakes coming on.
Nobody I know is “the type of person who would run a red light”.
And yet probably everyone I know has done so at one time or another, or more.
Just imagine if while texting he missed seeing the red light.
Texting or talking on the phone while driving or operating a train is highly irresponsible.
Numerous studies have shown that talking on a cell phone while driving is incredibly dangerous.
The main reason why is that your brain is trying to form a visual picture of the person you are talking to at the time which distracts it from the task at hand.
How many times have you been driving while talking on the phone and arrived at your destination and could not recall how you got there.
If you don’t die in a crash, then, the brain cancer probably will kill you, it will just take a little longer:
People text message while driving automobiles, which amazes me. I guess up in an engine passengers can not see you, so you think you can get away with more. I wonder what else goes on in the engineer’s seat which noone knows about.
I know that this will sound like I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I do hope that this is thoroughly investigated by an outside agency. I wouldn't put it past government officials to utilize a 'fall guy' on which to place blame. Sort of a cover-up for some other significant failure.
And evidence that this engineer was texting while he was being paid to pay attention is a pretty clear indictment.
There's a reason for local laws about vehicle drivers not using a hand-held cell phone while driving. This is the worst-case real-world proof that those laws make sense. And save lives.
I do not understand the mechanics of trains and tracks but I do hope there is some final explanation as to what happened. It doesn’t make sense.
This hits me hard. I live in Southern California and know several people who take the MetroLink daily. People just like those who lost their lives Friday who we’re just going about their daily routine, coming home from work to be with their families. My heart and prayers with for all those who have lost thier dear loved ones.
If the text message was sent one-minute before the crash, then, Metrolink officials should be able to calculate where the train was when he sent the message.
It wouldn’t surprise me if it was right near the location of the red light.
I’m sorry, but, the potential that this person killed this many people because of a text message infuriates me.
Scary. Scary how misinformation can spread through Al Goron’s invention. This thread is the best example. Pretend you know, and MSM doesn’t, and millions will believe you. Until someone with a certificate in his pocket (he says) comes along and presents his version, pretty much confirming the “lying MSM’s” version. Who do you believe?
For the other passengers on the train they were lucky that the locomotive was in the front and pulling. If it had been in the rear and pushing I would hate to think of the death toll.
That said, WHY IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE FOR THE ENGINEER TO IGNORE A RED LIGHT?!?!?!?!!!!!
Although it would be foolish to send a text message to some railfans while operating, there are other possibilities. He could have had a heart attack or a stroke. He could have not had enough sleep and spaced out the red lights, unrelated to the texting.
We’ll find out what happened.