DC Metro Train Collision

Things like this reqally point out how things can happen when you least expect it. I have a friend who was supposed to take a flight to Paris for his company several years ago. Somehow, circumstances had his company book him on a later flight. That was good because the flight he was supposed to go on crashed.

If nothing else, situations like this point out that no one lives in a vacuum and that we are all in the hands of a greater power than ourselves.

As for those killed and injured, my heart goes out to them and their families and friends. For those that are injured may their recoveries be speedy and they have no lasting effects of thsi accident.

I hope the NTSB investigates this thoroughly and finds what the cause of the accident was as quickly as possible. If it was a system failure, it needs to be corrected. If it was something else, that needs to be discovered as well and steps taken to prevent such accidents in the future.

Irv

more money for transit please!

 The news today is hinting that budget cuts are hurting Metro's ability to run safely. As a metro rider myself, I find this deeply troubling. Without getting too political, we as a nation need to reorder some priorities to help keep great things like Metro well funded. 

My job partially funds my metro fare, but even without that I'd be willing to pay more for a safe comfortable trip each morning and evening.

I agree completely, and not just for Metro

In my ideal world, a significant amount of the recent Stimulus bill would have gone for light and heavy rail construction.  Oh well.

Final death toll is now 9.  NTSB has begun to remove the wreckage, and two Amtrak trains passed today - one northbound and one southbound.  Also a CSX with autoracks.  No other rail traffic.

I hate to say this but...

Things like this somehow keep happening and not all of the blame can be laid on budget cuts just as it can't be laid on other factors alone. Why? because everyone seems to forget that people are involved in this too. People just don't seem to care and I think this the real problem and everything else is juts a convenient excuse to avoid taking responsibility for one's own actions.

We have too much of this going on and when the chickens come home to roost the fact human negligence is often the biggest contributor to this kind of thing is often forgotten and overlooked in a massive avoidance of responsibility. Too many people forget that we are all in a lifeboat with a hole in it and we try to blame the other guy for not bailing when we goof off and fail to do what we need to do to ensure the survival of all.

Irv

I hate to say this but...

Irv,

I have to agree with you 100% !! This is happening too many times and the bottom line is the human factor. Lack of responsibility.

They're called accidents for a reason

Also remember they're called accidents for a reason - as long as we have humans there will be mistakes upon occassion. If you want to eliminate all accidents, then let's get rid of all the humans.

(He says with a strong tone of sarcasim ...)

Unfortunately, that is true

 As someone whose job it is to investigate and follow-up on corrective actions from incidents in the workplace, human factors play a huge role in almost every accident.  We can try to put as many barriers in place to prevent mistakes from being made, but ultimately, we aren't perfect beings and we will make mistakes.  Some have more serious consequences than others.

This is a very unfortunate event and I wish the best for all involved.  If someone was found to make a critical mistake, before condemning them, please ask yourself - in the same situation, might I have also made that mistake?  Chances are, many of us would have.

Fail Safe

Did anyone see the movie Fail Safe?  Basically, the unexpected happened (nuclear war) due to a unforseen technical glitch.  Just becuase the trains have been running for so many years without incedent does not preclude an unforseen technical problem.  There may have been a combination of technical and human factors that contributed in causing the crash.  

Indeed!

Mrs. Blue is currently working on the re-development of safety and performance strategy's for her division of the company she works for.  There is a huge potential for injury in some jobs within the company.

They find that even with good training, proper equipment, and proven safety measures in place, it is in the area of job performance, or rather, a lack of job performance, where these "accidents" typically occur.

In a sense, Freud was right, there are no accidents.  Accidents are nearly always preventable, IMO.  When an accident is unpreventable, I call it a disaster.

Humans, and the things we create are not perfect.  Sometimes we compound the problem by not doing our jobs prorerly.  I hope this isn't the case in this unfortunate crash.

Taking responsibility.

People do make mistakes. I understand that. What I don't understand is why people are reluctant to take any responsibility for those mistakes. Everyone just points to other people or machinery as the cause. Sometimes they may be right to some extent but if machinery fails it usually fails for lack of proper maintenance. If that lack of maintenance is due to some irresponsible idiot who refuses to pay for that maintenance then that individual should be held just as responsible as those whose job it is to inspect that machinery and report it as unserviceable.

Now I am not saying that this is what caused the accident in DC, but it is a possibility. It is also possible that the inspector was kept to busy to inspect the stuff s/he had to inspect or that this person left this job and wasn't replaced due to budget cuts. Again some one made this mistake and should come clean about it. Lack of money is a poor escuse when that causes people to die or get hurt needlessly.

Irv

UPDATE

Looks like NTSB is studying the signal equipment and automatic train control system.  Also appeasr the operator tried to use the emergency brakes.

CSX rail service is back on pace, at least numbers wise, but they seem to be moving slowly in the area.  Metro has taken the dead trians and parts off the tracks, and are running limited rush hour traffic through the area at restricted speeds on the track that wasn't involved.  I may ride it tomorrow, just to see how traffic is.

thanks to everyone who contributed something to this.