The Philly train crash

Chula Vista · 05-15-2015, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddler

It's awful. I don't understand what business he thought he had going that fast in that area.

Maybe he dozed off? According to reports the train was accelerating right before the accident. If he'd been fully aware you'd figure he'd have been decelerating knowing he was coming up on that curve.

**Frownland** · 05-15-2015, 08:33 AM

Well he could very well be a moron.

Plankton · 05-15-2015, 08:37 AM

I'm thinking he dozed off too. A similar thing happened here in Chicago last year when a subway train went through the end stop barriers and up onto some escalators after the engineer/driver dozed off. She fessed up to it.

fiddler · 05-15-2015, 09:28 AM

Okay even giving the benefit of the doubt of dozing off, isn't there SOME sort of safety feature on the trains to prevent such things? For instance if you're driving an 18 wheeler on the newer ones after a set amount of time (such as nine, ten hours or whatever) the rig will force you to pull over and rest because it'll shut off. This is to prevent drivers from driving too long at once.

Plankton · 05-15-2015, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddler

Okay even giving the benefit of the doubt of dozing off, isn't there SOME sort of safety feature on the trains to prevent such things? For instance if you're driving an 18 wheeler on the newer ones after a set amount of time (such as nine, ten hours or whatever) the rig will force you to pull over and rest because it'll shut off. This is to prevent drivers from driving too long at once.

It wasn't in place at that point on the rail. I heard one of the NTSB officers saying it would have prevented the crash %100 this morning.

Automatic train control - Wikipedia

fiddler · 05-15-2015, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plankton

It wasn't in place at that point on the rail. I heard one of the NTSB officers saying it would have prevented the crash %100 this morning.

had to take the link out

Okay great so if anything I would hope that this would prompt the NTSB to update the older lines.

**Janszoon** · 05-15-2015, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddler

Okay great so if anything I would hope that this would prompt the NTSB to update the older lines.

They already made a plan to do it a few years ago, it's just taking forever.

fiddler · 05-15-2015, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

They already made a plan to do it a few years ago, it's just taking forever.

Let me guess...budget? See that's the thing, everybody keeps throwing around "budget this, budget that" or it's their responsibility, or whatever the case may be. Then something like that this happens, and all of a sudden there's nobody to point the finger at. The sad part is that this was probably preventable with the right equipment/maintenance/etc.

**Janszoon** · 05-15-2015, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddler

Let me guess...budget? See that's the thing, everybody keeps throwing around "budget this, budget that" or it's their responsibility, or whatever the case may be. Then something like that this happens, and all of a sudden there's nobody to point the finger at. The sad part is that this was probably preventable with the right equipment/maintenance/etc.

From everything I've read it sounds like it was completely preventable. They even had the technology set up on the southbound side of the tracks, just not on the northbound side.

fiddler · 05-15-2015, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

From everything I've read it sounds like it was completely preventable. They even had the technology set up on the southbound side of the tracks, just not on the northbound side.

I think that's the worst part.

05-15-2015, 08:33 AM	#12 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Well he could very well be a moron. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

05-15-2015, 08:37 AM	#13 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	I'm thinking he dozed off too. A similar thing happened here in Chicago last year when a subway train went through the end stop barriers and up onto some escalators after the engineer/driver dozed off. She fessed up to it. __________________ See location...

05-15-2015, 09:28 AM	#14 (permalink)
fiddler Music Addict Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 242	Okay even giving the benefit of the doubt of dozing off, isn't there SOME sort of safety feature on the trains to prevent such things? For instance if you're driving an 18 wheeler on the newer ones after a set amount of time (such as nine, ten hours or whatever) the rig will force you to pull over and rest because it'll shut off. This is to prevent drivers from driving too long at once.