Maryland Train Track Incident Kills 2 Workers
A recent examiner.com article reported that two veteran workers on the Washington area’s transit system were killed in Rockville, MD on January 26, 2010 after being crushed by a maintenance truck. Apparently, the automatic train technicians, ages 49 and 68, were installing new train control safety equipment in the track bed when a high rail truck struck them. The track was supposed to have been closed for the evening. However, the special vehicle that hit the two men is capable of operating on the track even when electricity is off, thus explaining its presence during the maintenance work.
With this latest fatal Metro incident, the public is reminded of how deadly a work environment Metro has been for U.S. transit rail workers over the past five years. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said that the rail truck in this incident was in reverse, which is not uncommon. The Chairman of the Metro board of directors stated that this tragic accident was the direct result of human error.
Based on the story, the Federal Transit Administration has determined that 8 of 13 deceased rail transit workers have been killed in and around Washington-area system tracks since 2005. These numbers do not include the death of a train driver and eight passengers in a collision last June, which is considered the worst accident in Metro’s 33-year history.
Authority may be granted to the Federal Transit Administration to impose safety standards on subways, light rail and other urban train systems. As of now, law prohibits the federal government from taking such control. However, the recent spate of Metro train deaths emphasizes a great need for transit safety legislation to be further implemented. Several other transit systems have experienced much fewer fatalities over the last five years. Being host to the biggest rail transit system in the U.S., New York City’s subway has only had three deaths since 2005.
If you have been injured or if someone you care about has been killed in a Maryland or Washington, D.C. metro train accident, claims may be filed to help recover damages and hold negligent parties accountable for their actions. For a free consultation of your case, please call Meng & Alpert's personal injury lawyers at 866-444-6363 today.
