Two adults, child hurt in 31st MetroRail accident

Houston Chronicle ^ | March 29, 2004, 3:41PM | By S.K. BARDWELL

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Two adults and a child suffered minor injuries today when a driver collided with a Metro train in the Medical Center about 2:30 p.m. today.

Metro police officers said a woman ran a red light at Fannin and Binz, where lights in all four directions turn red when a train is passing.

The driver, with an adult and child passenger, then stopped on the Metro tracks, police said, and was struck by a train. Police said no one on the train was injured.

It is the 31st accident involving a Metro train since November.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

It's hard to keep up. Anyone know if #30 made it into the FR record?

[Dog Gone]

I didn't see it. My favorite wreck was #28, I believe, about a week ago.

That's when the train hit a pedestrian, and then the ambulance taking him to the hospital was broadsided by some chick, and both incidents were captured on film.

[mlbford2]

My wife took "THE TRAIN OF PAIN" last week from work to the dentist in the Medical Complex. I was glad to hear it when she called when she got back to work. I voted against that POS.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

#30

Man in wheelchair struck by light rail

A MetroRail train struck a Fifth Ward resident in a motorized wheelchair Saturday afternoon, causing minor injuries that sent the man to Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The northbound train left Midtown's McGowen Station about 2:30 p.m. when the wheelchair rolled out in front of it, said Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Ken Connaughton. Ruben Holmes, of the 4200 block of Quitman, initially declined medical attention but later was brought to the hospital.

Holmes, who had just gotten off a southbound train, "must not have been looking where he was going," Connaughton said. The crosswalk at the northern end of McGowen Station does not have a traffic signal.

The incident is the second involving a pedestrian struck by a light rail train in Houston, and the 30th incident on the Main Street line.

[wildbill]

The most dangerous 8 miles of track in America.

I hope the Chronicle and their masters in the financial and ecological community that sold this white elephant to the public are happy.

[Dog Gone]

Is a guy in a motorized wheelchair technically a pedestrian?

[theFIRMbss]

>Metro police officers said a woman ran a red light at Fannin and Binz, where lights in all four directions turn red when a train is passing
>>The most dangerous 8 miles of track in America

No, the tracks are safe.
This woman's stupity
was the big danger.

[jsbankston]

I fail to see where the train was at fault. The woman ran a red light and when one runs a red light it is not uncommon to be hit by a vehicle in the cross traffic.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Hmmm. I think so in the sense that he was crossing the street as opposed to driving on it.

[jsbankston]

If the woman who ran the red light had been hit by a Camry, some people here would blame Toyota for accident.

[Dog Gone]

The train wasn't at fault. What is at fault is the concept that trains, pedestrians, and cars should all share the same pavement in one of the busiest stretches of highway in Houston.

Many people who come to the Medical Center are not even from Texas, much less Houston, and it's challenging enough to find the right medical facility without a bunch of confusing lights and trains sneaking up behind you.

[TopQuark]

CRIME and CALAMITIES: the height of American entertainment.

[jra]

Will someon FedEx me a burger and a root beer from Prince's???

[jsbankston]

Many people who come to the Medical Center are not even from Texas.

Now come on!

Are you saying that people from outside of Texas have not figured out what to do at a Red Light?

From as far as I can tell, people in most other states and even nations STOP when the light is Red. The woman in this story Ran A Red Light!

She is lucky that when running the red light she was not broadsided by a speeding SVU killing her and her child.

[judgeandjury]

Metro police officers said a woman ran a red light at Fannin and Binz, where lights in all four directions turn red when a train is passing.

Stupid human being.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Ahh, I see your problem, and maybe it is the train's problem as well.

A speeding SUV would have also ran a red light at this intersection. The article states that the lights were red all around.

Pray tell, what do you do at an intersection when all four lights are red? Wait for them to change to all green?

If the train is going to share the road space with automobiles, it needs, no must share the lights.

[Xenalyte]

I take it you consider 30-some accidents in 12 weeks of operation to be normal.

[theFIRMbss]

>I take it you consider 30-some accidents in 12 weeks of operation to be normal

When trains hit people
stupid enough to get hit
by big, noisy trains,

the trains are doing
society a a favor.
It's sad. But it's true.

[Xenalyte]

Then you have never been to Houston. These are not choo-choo trains. They are quiet, and even quieter when surrounded by street noise.

But keep throwin' that opinion around . . . you may get lucky and clock someone in the head with it.

[Dog Gone]

The train has been operational for less than four months, actually less than three on a full schedule, and we have 31 collisions. If that doesn't suggest a flaw in the concept to you as implemented, then I doubt any number ever would.

I can't wait until they complete the 70-mile expansion in the works. Naturally, the train will never be at fault because it has the right of way by law.

It's not a difficult concept to grasp that trains should be grade separated from other traffic because it's safer. Streets are for cars, trucks and buses. Runways are for planes. Separated train tracks are for trains.