Comments on: It’s Going To Happen

By: Matt L

Matt L — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Gotta love this. “Oops, we quoted someone who doesn’t actually exist.” Even better is that they discovered the error because someone at the Stranger was trying to follow up…

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:25:59 +0000

From last Sunday’s NYTimes. Enough said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/21distracted.html?scp=2&sq=cell%20phone%20deaths%20on%20higheways%20july%202009&st=cse

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:14:26 +0000

You can’t make anything foolproof; fools are too damned ingenious.

By: Matt the Engineer

Matt the Engineer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:37:02 +0000

Speaking of which, shouldn’t a drug test and cell phone records search be done for every car accident that leads to injury or death? It’s not like driving a car is any safer than driving a train (much less safe, actually).

By: Matt the Engineer

Matt the Engineer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:28:52 +0000

Think about how much we’ll improve traffic flow if we just drain the thing and pave a few dozen lanes of freeway.

By: lazarus

lazarus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:28:11 +0000

This was a suicide — plain and simple, and the authorities have already ruled so. You seem to be trying to turn this into something that it isn’t. But, regardless of what your motives are, you can rest assured that all protocols will be followed in investigating and closing out this incident.

Bottom line? This was not an “accident”, it was a suicide. Time to move on.

By: Zed

Zed — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:28:53 +0000

I believe those checks should be done if there is reason to believe the operator did something wrong. In this case it is pretty clear that the operator did nothing to cause this event to happen. Just because someone works for a public agency does not mean that they should be expected to give up their constitutional rights.

By: VeloBusDriver

VeloBusDriver — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:48:30 +0000

Any operator of a Metro coach involved in an accident that results in injury or death will be tested for drugs – regardless of fault. Positive results for drugs are relatively rare so this typically ends up being a CYA move for both Metro and the driver. I am not aware of any policy for checking cell phone records – the idea has merit provided there are guidelines to protect innocents. (Don’t hang me if somebody sends me a text message but there’s no evidence that I was actually interacting with my phone… I can’t even hear the stupid thing while I’m driving) I can’t speak to policies for Link operators but I’m sure that the rules for them are much more stringent.

Hey Sam, since you seem so gung-ho about checking for drugs and cell-phone use, would you be willing to submit to such scrutiny as a private citizen?

By: ugh

ugh — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:49:16 +0000

I agree with you, Ben, but I don’t have much hope for that sort of compassion and pragmatism in contemporary American society.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:44:57 +0000

[Comment edited: ad hominem]

I happen to believe that whenever there is a fatal bus or train crash, immediate drug tests should be performed, and cell phone records should be checked. If it’s found that an operator was on their cell phone at the time of the fatal crash, no matter who’s at fault, they should be fired.

By: Zed

Zed — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:25:01 +0000

It is the victims fault, plain and simple, not the fault of the driver. He climbed over a barrier and was trespassing on the tracks. Please give up your transit operator distracted by cell phones witch hunt.

Did it occur to you that maybe they have looked at the video and that’s how they concluded he jumped in front of the train?

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:50:52 +0000

So you don’t think bus drivers or train operators should be drug tested or have their cell phone records examined when they are involved in a fatal accident?

By: Jeff Welch

Jeff Welch — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:49:36 +0000

Bus passengers – regardless of walk of life – tend to go from a relatively civilized group of human beings to a savage band of “Lord of the Flies” idiots in a relatively short period of time when anything goes wrong with a bus.

There’s nothing like trying to correct a problem with people complaining, firing rapid fire questions, demanding off (and on) the bus, banging on the bus etc. all while traffic is backing up.

Good times.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:37:46 +0000

I’m of the opinion that if you’re on trackway, it’s always your fault. Period. I don’t care if the driver was doing ikebana.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:36:30 +0000

What could help would be better funding for services to permanently house people who can’t take care of themselves. We have programs for it, just not enough of them. Some percentage of people just need our help.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:35:31 +0000

I don’t think there was anywhere for him to go on the other side (except the other track). My understanding is that it was pretty cut and dry.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:34:36 +0000

Ah, I see. Ouch.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:24:55 +0000

I sure hope so.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:23:14 +0000

It should be turned into a park and ride.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:54:52 +0000

I also hope, but I doubt they will, get the cell phone records of the Link operator, to see if he was on a call at the time of the crash. I think whenever there’s a crash or fatality, even when it looks like the Link operator isn’t to blame, I think their cell records should be examined to make sure they weren’t distracted at the time of the crash.