NewsDude
09-17-2008, 04:00 PM
Amid a federal investigation into whether a commuter train engineer was texting before a deadly collision with another train, the state's top rail safety regulator is seeking an emergency order banning train operators from using cell phones.
"Some railroad operators may have policies prohibiting the personal use of such devices, but they're widely ignored," Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said Monday. "Our order would make it the law and we'll go after violators. We owe it to the public."
The commission has scheduled a vote on the order Thursday.
The collision between the Metrolink train and a Union Pacific freight train killed 25 people and injured 138 people -- the deadliest rail disaster in the U.S. in 15 years.
Metrolink has blamed its engineer for not heeding a red light signal designed to prevent such wrecks, and the National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing whether the engineer was text messaging.
Investigators did not find a cell phone belonging to Robert Sanchez in the wreckage, but two teenage train buffs who befriended him told KCBS-TV that they received a text message from him a minute before the crash.
Kitty Higgins, an NTSB board member, said her agency issued a subpoena Monday to get the engineer's cell phone records. She said Verizon Wireless has five days to respond to the subpoena request.
Higgins also said tests at the crash site showed the signals are working properly and there were no obstructions that may have prevented the engineer from seeing the red light.
"The question is, did he see it as red?" Higgins said. "Did he see it as something else? Did he see it at all?"
NTSB experts prepared to conduct a simulated crash test on Tuesday.
On Monday some commuters -- many wary and emotional -- returned to the rail line on the first day of service...
More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61897)
"Some railroad operators may have policies prohibiting the personal use of such devices, but they're widely ignored," Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said Monday. "Our order would make it the law and we'll go after violators. We owe it to the public."
The commission has scheduled a vote on the order Thursday.
The collision between the Metrolink train and a Union Pacific freight train killed 25 people and injured 138 people -- the deadliest rail disaster in the U.S. in 15 years.
Metrolink has blamed its engineer for not heeding a red light signal designed to prevent such wrecks, and the National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing whether the engineer was text messaging.
Investigators did not find a cell phone belonging to Robert Sanchez in the wreckage, but two teenage train buffs who befriended him told KCBS-TV that they received a text message from him a minute before the crash.
Kitty Higgins, an NTSB board member, said her agency issued a subpoena Monday to get the engineer's cell phone records. She said Verizon Wireless has five days to respond to the subpoena request.
Higgins also said tests at the crash site showed the signals are working properly and there were no obstructions that may have prevented the engineer from seeing the red light.
"The question is, did he see it as red?" Higgins said. "Did he see it as something else? Did he see it at all?"
NTSB experts prepared to conduct a simulated crash test on Tuesday.
On Monday some commuters -- many wary and emotional -- returned to the rail line on the first day of service...
More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61897)