September 18th, 2008
Cell Phone Ban for California Train Operators Passes
By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) met on Thursday to discuss an emergency order which would ban the use of cell phones by train operators. While individual companies may have had such rules in place, there was no law backing up the rules.
In a unanimous vote, the CPUC approved the order. The ruling comes less than a week after a Metrolink commuter train ran head-on into a freight train, killing 25 people and injuring more than 130 others, after the operator failed to stop at a stop signal.
The NTSB requested the cell phone records of the Metrolink train engineer, Robert Martin Sanchez, 46, from Verizon Wireless. Verizon has already turned over some of the records to the NTSB, and it’s been determined that he was text-messaging on his cell phone while on duty. Authorities have not determined if he was texting just prior to the crash, however.
Sanchez was killed in the accident.
However, one would think that common sense would say that if many states have banned talking on cell phones sans a hands-free setup while driving, it would be obvious that texting and emailing while driving is far more distracting. I can’t see anyone with an ounce of common sense disagreeing. So why is it that almost all states haven’t addressed this?
Is there a strong Blackberry lobby I don’t know of?
Geo8rge says:
Middle aged gay choo choo train driver with poor accident record (and possible affirmative action hire) texting teenage boys. Too PI to go there. I do not think the cell phone was the problem, the operator was. Is it possible that in some situations written not verbal communications is the best? Modern trains are fully computerized, my guess is that texing is not a bad solution for good train drivers, and everything is a bad solution for bad train drivers.
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 am
MissingFrame says:
Finally we can lock this guy up under the new law! Oh, he’s dead?
Making something illegal doesn’t keep people from doing it. Instead, there should be a law requiring train engineers be properly educated on what is and isn’t dangerous to do while driving a train.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:45 am