A subway train rear-ended another subway train that was stopped between two underground stations in downtown Boston on Friday night, injuring about 50 people, and one of the conductors told police he was texting at the time of the crash, officials said.About 100 people were evacuated, and 49 were taken to area hospitals, but officials said their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
The 24-year-old operator of the moving train, who was the most seriously injured, admitted to police that he was sending text messages from his cell phone when the accident occurred, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager Dan Grabauskas said.
The MBTA has stepped up enforcement of the rule against cell phone use by operators following a subway train crash in Newton last May that killed the driver that collided with another. Although there were reports the driver was using a cell phone just before the crash, an investigation ultimately determined there was no evidence she was using her phone.
Grabauskas said the operator of the train that struck the parked one admitted to investigators who interviewed him in a hospital he saw the red light ahead of him as he was texting, but it was too late to stop.
"I can tell you it's difficult to contain my outrage at hearing this," Grabauskas said.
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Driving is a PRIVILEGE - not a right.
When driving your car, your eyes needs to be straight ahead.
When driving your car, your eyes needs to be straight ahead.
Both hands needs be on the steering wheel.
You need to observe speed limits.
You need to yield the right of way to pedestrians/other cars.
You need to STOP for stop signs and red lights.
You need to pull over to the side of the road to allow emergency vehicles to past from both directions.
AND HANG UP THE CELL PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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3 comments:
I'm sorry I was busy texting someonw... can you just text that to me and I'll check it out when I can...
People needs to get a real life there is alot more to life then texting and talking on a damn cell phone.
This will NOT be the last instance of a tragedy caused by a worker who didn't take his responsibilities seriously, and it will not be confined to public transit operators.
I think it's important to identify root causes here. Sorry to say, I am not the first to notice a new level of immaturity in today's workers. Specifically, employers are reporting 1) a decreased sense of accountability along with 2) an increased sense of entitlement. Think about it for one minute, and you begin to see that's a dangerous combination.
I'd go further, but the following, written by a high school teacher, does a better job than I ever could:
http://donaldgallinger.com/dons-blog/jack-from-missouri/12-my-self-of-steam.html
Unfortunately, I think imprisonment is necessary here. It may be unfair to the young driver, who quite possibly was never taught a sense of social responsibility by the adults in his life. But neither were thousands of young people who are just entering the workforce. The only way to prevent future loss of life and limb may be to "shock and awe" these new workers into taking the world seriously.
Then, as a more permanent measure, we MUST start teaching kids better values.
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