Posted on 09/24/2008 2:01:30 PM PDT by WaveMan
It'll make it harder for them to pass a stricter law on cell phone use in vehicles.
MORONS!
ROTFLMAO!!
That truck driver in FL who hit the school bus was on his cell phone...
Big penalties should be given to drivers who talk and crash
Prison for injuries and/or death etc...
I’ve been in too many near misses myself...
I dont dare toot at them ...
What if they are startled and theres an accident anyway ???
I’d rather have 6 drunks around me than one Grandma with a lethal weapon cell phone in her hand...
No drunk has ever hit me.....
Furthermore, he said the conductor on the train — a guy who would know every inch, every bump, every switch, every light — had a responsibility he didn’t handle.
Foul play or suicide pact?
I work for a company that makes just such devices. Unfortunately all such systems are in early rollout phase and we cannot ramp up to installing systems on every train in the country. If we had ten or fifteen years, sure - but rumor is the FRA is going to demand something in place by 2012. That’s not enough time.
Sanchez’ last boyfriend recently hanged himself in Sanchez’ apartment, or so I’ve read. A very, very unstable homosexual, IMHO. He might have just gotten a “bugger off” text from his young boy pal, and he decided to end it all. Just a guess.
I now think it was suicide. The freight train he ran into was a regularly scheduled freight train so he new it would be in the area. He had to have crossed its path on many occasions. The freight train had a camera on board so that will prove interesting.
I think a case could be made that this was a suicide/homicide. Regarding the old partner that 'hung' himself. It might be worth it to reopen the case as a double check that it was not a murder. Whether or not the engineer is responsible for his ex-partner's death, he still could have committed a murder-suicide with the Metrolink. He sounded a bit like a mental case.
What about the diabetic condition? Can you go into diabetic shock and become disabled physically or mentally?
He was afraid of being fired for having diabetes.
I don’t think he would have texted to that kid that he was meeting the next train in Camarillo if he was planning on dying in minutes.
What about diabetic shock?
I’m amazed that there is no automatic fail safe mechanism to stop the train of the engineer fatally screws up.
Me, too. I've got some railroad technical books from the '40s squirrelled away in a box somewhere that describe failsafe systems for this sort of thing.
Interesting comments following the article at the link. Someone there even suggested terrorism.
I wonder what the text messages were?
I don’t know how they could make things much safer. It sounds like they’ve got stuff in place already.
But what better way to be able to keep up with little acts of terrorism than to not take credit for it and let people keep thinking that it was an accident?
A person in diabetic shock is not going to have enough wits to have sent a text message moments prior.
Certainly not outside the realm of possibility. I just think not so likely in this case. Certainly our infrastructure (i.e. roads, rails, airways, utilities, etc.) are all prime targets, but even without the threat to terror they are all subject to accidents and failures. Without a concerted, coordinated campaign to foul them up, any would be terrorist organization loses visibility and effect altogether. As long as this is viewed as a freak accident, people will clear off the tracks and get back on the train the next day. If it is believed that there could be additional incidents in the coming days or weeks, ridership goes down, people alter their way of life and the terrorist achieve their little victory.
Just my opinion. I hand't heard anything about the jilted homosexual angle, and the other personal and medical problems this engineer had until I read this thread...those tidbits bolster my opinion this wasn't caused by an external party.
I thought trains use a dead-man switch, no?
I didn’t know people could go into shock with diabetes. Sounds like it’s debilitating.
Not precisely. They mostly use a “keep-alive” button that has to be pressed at regular intervals. Slight difference and it works well unless there’s something really wrong.
Passenger trains may be different, most of my experience is with freight trains.
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