Comments on: Could the DC metro crash been avoided?

By: michael schneider

michael schneider — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:56:57 +0000

Incidentally Karen Fawcett properly proposes the point; that will metro systems around the world learn from this incident that they do more evaluating of what their systems are properly working to prevent this kind of accident !!

By: Karen Fawcett

Karen Fawcett — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:33:27 +0000

Mike: The metro that was launched under your auspices is more than a “classy” system and you have every right be incredibly proud of your contribution.

Coincidentally, I lived in DC when the Metro was inaugurated. My husband was a city planner and we fought hard to have the metro come to Georgetown and other parts of NW Washington. People who house hunt want to be near the metro. But some people were short-sited and didn’t want their neighborhoods too accessible to “strangers.” There were never stops in those areas because of the terrain not being conducive — or so it was said. I’m not a geologist.

The DC metro has always been a political football between D.C., MD and VA. Hopefully this accident will be more than a wake-up call for the government agencies that are responsible for doling out funds.

Your group did an incredible job and how I would prefer to be riding the metro than sitting in traffic and witnessing more car accidents than I should when I’m in DC rather than when I am in Paris.

Let’s hope “this incident will lead to much-needed and permanent reforms.”

By: michael schneider

michael schneider — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:42:46 +0000

As the former Deputy Chief of CALOSHA (1974-1983) We inspected the SF Muni Railway System usually as the result of fatalities, Over & over each time the problem was directly related to Management errors because of lack of proper training. In 1976 CALOSHA as the result of a double fatalities we learned that the Senior Management at a car barn had never done any training of workers in lockout procedures. They claimed that they didn’t do training because”it was too time consuming”
In 1980 a Metro car manfactured in Italy caused an operator to die and over thirty passengers were injured because no one inspected the track signal coils which when operating properly sensed a Metro car and fed complex signals to both the operator and Central Control.There were no inspections because Management never trained enough workers to inspect the entire system on a regular basis.
I helped the DA in SF to prosecute three Senior management officials for failing to provide the proper procedures to employees.
The old motto said ” Deferred training is no training”

By: Metro Crash | FTP2FTP News

Metro Crash | FTP2FTP News — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:34:20 +0000

[...] DC Dicta » Blog Archive » The Metro crash litigation beginsCould the DC metro crash been avoided? by Karen Fawcett. At approximately 5 p.m. on Monday, June 22nd, two trains crashed on the packed commuter metro Red Line near Tacoma Park, Md. The accident is the deadliest in the D.C.’s Metro’s … Read more [...]

By: Mike Murray

Mike Murray — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:21:31 +0000

The fact that the Washington METRO (WMATA) has gotten as far as it has is a near-miracle, building a 103(±) mile heavy rail transit system in 35 years in one of the most contentious cities in the world, then running it really without major incident since 1978. To do anything, Metro’s board with its six voting members needs at least one vote from each of its major constituents: Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, all of which have divergent goals and priorities. They all have to kick in to subsidize rail transportation in the area, plus paying to make up the difference between fare box collections and costs for bus service in their state or District. WMATA has no dedicated source of revenue; it depends on the individual jurisdictions to “kick in”, for example to buy replacement rail cars for the overdue-for-replacement Rohr cars involved in this accident and otherwise maintain the system. Yes, nine people were killed in this accident; how many were killed in auto accidents in the Washington region served by METRO since the last accident involving multiple passenger fatalities on Friday the 13th of January 1982? Having led the Office of Management Information Services at METRO for a number of years, I left almost 20 years ago, but I’m still proud of that system and my contribution to its success. It’s a very classy system, an icon for our nation’s Capital that often deserved better than it has gotten from fiscally stressed local politicians. Perhaps this incident will lead to much-needed and permanent reforms.

By: Karen Fawcett

Karen Fawcett — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:18:16 +0000

DVTA – thank you for the updates. You beat me to the keyboard. thank you.

By: DCTA

DCTA — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:07:03 +0000

The train issue is not about the tracks being aligned – it seems that one of the signals (circuits) that “warm” to “autopilot” was not working. They tried it at the same spot yesterday and the signal did not detect the dummy train sitting in the exact same spot as the stationary train on Monday.

The have now begun to test each of the several hundred signals on tha tracks and will run manually until the testing is done and they are assured all the signals are working.

By: The man who notices things

The man who notices things — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:12:12 +0000

Could the crash have been averted?

97.9999% of the time you could take off and land airplanes without human intervention The computers would keep the airplanes apart and fly them from place to place without the need for human intervention. The pilots are aboard to handle that 2.0001% of the time that judgment and skill are required.

Same with runing the trains – 99% of the time the computers work just fine – and during complex rush our periods probably work the system better than humans could. Humans make mistakes too – as the air crash statistics show.

Accidents are part of the human condition – to err is human, to really screw up inexplicably takes a computer . ..

By: Karen Fawcett

Karen Fawcett — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:09:51 +0000

There has been an update that the problem was because the metro rails weren’t aligned and there wasn’t a warning or stop signal. The metro train operator did use the hand-brake. More information to come. Karen

By: DCTA

DCTA — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:45:24 +0000

Interestingly, I got on the metro Monday night and was not in the least bit fearful. And I have continued to take it back and forth to work every day this week. i can take the train and risk a once in several years accident, or I can drive through the DC traffic where there are accidents daily – and on the Beltway, deaths – it seems – weekly.