Comments on: The Metro Accident

By: Oliver Willis

Oliver Willis — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:36:25 +0000

It’s a lot like a plane crash. Plane crashes rarely happen, but they make the news because a) they rarely happen and b) when they do, a lot of people die at once. Yet, still safer than driving up the street to Giant. Ditto for trains.

By: Cory

Cory — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:57:43 +0000

Oh, and, in addition, this had made me no more afeared of trains btw. To the contrary, I’m suddenly terrified of driving!

Think of this:

1. what if she was texting? — i see people texting whilst driving all the time

2. what if the brakes were bad? — hell, MY brakes are bad and I know it!

3. did you see the telescoping crumpling at 35mph? — I drive my gf’s scion 80mph on 95 all the time where I’m passed by hummer’s going 110mph.

cars are the scary; i’ll take a train any day … but i’d prefer they phase out the “b cars”

By: Cory

Cory — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:36:21 +0000

I personally think the “texting” angle is crap. From what I’ve read there’s no evidence she was texting and I find it an insult to her family to ponder that possibility until such evidence becomes available. I mean, they _will_ look at her sms records. Wait till then.

I do think there is a very strong case, however, for arguments to the effect that that old car shouldn’t have been the lead car on the train, if on the tracks at all. The article in wapo that everyone’s been linking to certainly rattles on about it. Not as easy as the narrative “people shouldn’t text” but it shouldn’t be overlooked.

I ride that train and that lead car from that station everyday and those old cars are obviously a problem. And, sure, I’ve watched the conductors ignore safety at that spot many times but I’m more worried about the fact that they’re expected to drive old, broken-down trains every day without question.

By: Jay Tea

Jay Tea — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:06:57 +0000

Oh, Randy, I wasn’t saying it was anything new. On the contrary, I agree it’s very, very old. I was trying to say that it was remarkable how much that image resembled the 19th-century pictures in my grandfather’s book. And when you think about the structure of train cars — essentially hollow tubes — it’s horrifyingly inevitable with crashes like this.

I am SO riding in a middle car next month…

By: Randy Brown

Randy Brown — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:45:45 +0000

JT, the telescoping problem has been around for at least 91 years; it was a major factor in the NYC Malbone Street Disaster of 1918, the worst US subway accident in terms of fatalities.

By: Randy Brown

Randy Brown — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:41:36 +0000

Aptiva Dave…Fast, yes, especially parts of the Green/Yellow Line. Clean, not always. Kim and I were on a Yellow train that looked like it had original 1976 carpet that had never been cleaned.

By: SFC B

SFC B — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:50:10 +0000

…but it seems that at least several of the last few rounds of transit crashes have involved drivers text messaging.

It will be a combination of driver inattentivness and technology breaking down.

By: Aptiva Dave

Aptiva Dave — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:15:19 +0000

I can’t believe that this happened. Whenever I am in the DC area I take the Metro, since it is the cleanest and fastest train system I’ve been on in my life.

By: Jay Tea

Jay Tea — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:02:37 +0000

I’ve ridden that line a few times, too… and likely will again in about a month. Whoa…. a bit of empathy for you, Oliver.

I’m not an avid follower of such things, but it seems that at least several of the last few rounds of transit crashes have involved drivers text messaging. So that’s not completely out of line.

When I was younger, my grandfather had a book on railroad crashes. One thing that’s stuck with me was the phenomenon of “telescoping” — when one train actually ends up inside another. That’s all I could think of when I saw the picture of the rear-ended train, most of its chassis pointing skywards.

From now on, whenever I take a train, I’m going to try to ride in one of the middle cars.

By: tom

tom — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:52:32 +0000

I lived a mile from the 35W bridge in Minneapolis and drove on that bridge just about every day. Same feeling.

By: Randy Brown

Randy Brown — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:23:29 +0000

OW, my GF and I were in DC on Sat. (trip to the zoo), and we rode the Red Line a few times as well as the Green/Yellow…this scares me.

What’s worse is how some ash-holes are using this tragedy as an excuse to spew racial and political hate (“She MUST have been on her cellphone!” “It’s Obama’s fault!”).

Jaim, I’m betting the cause was a massive computer error…

By: Jaim

Jaim — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:02:00 +0000

Peace to the families of all the victims. As a former red-liner myself, I’m quick to let people know what a great transit system DC has, especially with regards to the Metro. This is just really sad.

Any word on the cause yet? Driver error? I know that heat can play a role too when the metal of the tracks expand and warp the discs of the train.