By William G. Jungbauer | Published November 14, 2013 | Posted in Railroad Employees | Tagged Tags: distracted driving, drowsy driving, fatigue, hours of service, train derailment | Leave a comment
New Technology Addresses Fatigue-Related Rail Accidents
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that the probable cause of a major train crash in Iowa was driver fatigue. The crash killed two train workers when a coal freighter barreled into a stationary train near Red Oak. The coal train’s conductor and engineer did not survive. The NTSB investigation revealed that both crewmembers Read More
Read MoreIndustrial Train Accidents: Financial Fallout Lasts Long After Clean-Up
The U.S. has seen a disturbing number of industrial railroad accidents on its expansive rail system during the past several years, due in large part to an energy boom in western states and the need to distribute oil. While the economy and unemployment rates have improved as a result, increased strain on the rails has Read More
Read MoreFELA Claim: File It or Forget It – Waiting Might Mean Waiver
A West Virginia court recently dealt a devastating blow to a railroad worker who devoted 30 years of his life to East Coast railway giant CSX Transportation. The man had suffered severe back pain beginning in the 1980s, which he and his doctors demonstrated was caused by the countless hours the man spent on CSX Read More
Read MoreGoing Nuclear: Radioactive Waste on the Rails
Due to major breakthroughs in extraction technology and oil removal methods, oil production in the U.S. continues to soar. The primary reason for these advances is major increases in production in North Dakota and Texas, which show no signs of slowing. There are literally millions of barrels of oil produced each day, using a process Read More
Read MoreU.S. Rails at Risk? Trains Still Terrorist Targets after Ample Warning
Starting almost 40 years ago, terrorist organizations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have targeted railway systems as sites for their despicable attacks on the civilized world. Attacks that were fully executed have claimed hundreds of lives and injured thousands more. Some fear that attacks in Western Europe, such as the horrific Madrid train Read More
Read MoreTexting on the Train: Dangers of Distracted Conductors
With 41 states in the U.S. banning text messaging while operating a motor vehicle, it is clear that law enforcement is attempting to deal with the hazards posed by screen-obsessed motorists. Indeed, statistics indicate that texting while driving is even more unsafe than driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, primarily due to the Read More
Read MoreSecond Major Train Tragedy of the Year North of the Border
After close to 50 lives were lost only a few months earlier in a rail accident that destroyed large swaths of a tourist and logging town in Quebec, recently Canada was again rocked by a tragic railroad disaster. While the exact cause remains unknown at press time, some of the facts of this gruesome crash Read More
Read MoreKids, Trains and Hospital Bills: Child Railroad Safety
An 11-year-old Northeast Minneapolis boy is Minnesota’s latest train accident victim. The boy and his friends’ choice of a moving a train as the site of their early evening play was ill-advised, as the boy sustained a foot injury while trying to either hop on or jump off of the moving locomotive. According to one Read More
Read MoreCommuter Crash: Post-Collision Chaos Causes Injuries and Apprehension
As the nation’s second-largest public transportation system, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) provides about 1.6 million rides each day, serving Chicago and 35 suburbs in the metro area. One of the most important arteries in the CTA system is its Blue line, which serves O’Hare International Airport and also brings commuters to and from the Read More
Read MoreHigh Profile Train Accidents Raise Specter of Reform
Recent news reports have been dotted with train disasters. The horrifying nature of these accidents – especially the high causality rates – raise doubts regarding the sufficiency of current industry regulations. Reform proponents maintain that accidents such as the deadly Quebec oil tanker crash could have been prevented through stricter laws and more government oversight. Read More
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