[TommyJoe]

I guess that they are going to say that in this world of technology, I came down to human error?

[Batrachian]

"'Rush to judgment' in deadly LA rail crash?"

Is that what the news media is worried about? Probably trying to protect their union buddies.

[meyer]

While it may indeed be the fault of the engineer, it seems pretty convenient for the “authorities” to assign blame to a dead guy. After all, the dead guy can’t be sued but the rail authority can be.

[Bean Counter]

Apparently there is video taken from the locomotive that shows the crash, along with “black boxes” from both trains. From what I’ve read elsewhere there is little doubt that the transit driver ignored a red light for some reason and put him on the same track as an oncoming freight train.

The “why” this all happened is in question, and the NTSB won’t attempt to answer that for a while.

[Doug TX]

I heard that they are floating the rumor that the responsible person was texting which distracted from his performance. It has the sound of an urban myth being created to serve someone’s agenda.

[Leonard210]

They have a kid who was receiving text messages from the engineer just prior to the crash. Here's one link

[yazoo]

Always blame it on the dead guy.

[originalbuckeye]

Our papers here are saying that the engineer was texting at 4:20PM with a group of train enthusiasts. The accident occurred around 4:22PM. When a Metrolink worker monitoring the computers noticed that the train hadn’t stopped at a red light he tried to send an emergency message to the engineer. It was too late.

[ArmstedFragg]

It’s an admission on their part and the honest thing to do. That, alone, will raise all kinds of suspicions, but with the technology as it is, it’s extremely unlikely that they’re wrong. Even if the light itself had burned out the engineer would be under the same obligation to stop.

[kycoop]

Within an hour of the train collision, dispatching computer tapes would have been pulled. Technicians with supervisors would have checked the signal to see if there was any problem.
The engineer of the metro link train reported no problems.
I agree that the announcement that the cause was human error was premature. But the NTBS will come up with the same conclusion. After 25 years on a major railroad you know how things work. Everyone takes shortcuts and does things they should not do. 99 times out of a hundred we get away with it.Its that one time——as in the case of a friend that lost a finger from working on a running machine, ignoring all safety rules simply because it is the way he always did it-— it is that one time that will get you. The engineer of the Metro link train run out of times.