Blame For Train Collisions

Purpose of Article

On February 3, 2015, a Metro-North train slammed into an SUV, killing five civilians. This latest train collision has sparked a notice of how often people die from train collisions. An average of five people each week are killed in train collisions, far more than those who lose their lives in commercial airline crashes. After the receptive notice of train collisions, authorities have begun to question, who is to blame for the impact. Civilians who are hurt by a train incident, blame the railroad safety. Many believe that railroad companies are not doing enough to protect drivers from becoming isolated on a railroad. On the other side, train companies blame drivers for the collisions, believing it is the ignorance of

Although the state and local government are responsible for keeping railroad crossings safe, but railroads can be complicit in allowing conditions to deteriorate the track, causing dangerous crossing conditions. An investigation by the New York Times on railroad companies showed a persistent pattern of railroad cover-ups in cases of fatal crashes. Records of the incident were destroyed, and before lawyers could inspect the track, it was quickly fixed, leaving no evidence of a wreck behind. After a court situation, judge Ellen Maas wrote, “The railroad knowingly advanced lies, misleading facts, and/or misrepresentations in the legal proceedings.” The author blames railroads for containing “killing zones” and that the railroad has been slow to innovate protection. Malfunctions in warning lights and broken crossing gates are what lead to vehicle accidents. A consistent stream of railroad accidents in the world supports the author’s theory, that railroads are to blame for vehicle

However, in my opinion, drivers are often to blame for these accidents. When approaching a crossing, trains blare their horns, alerting drivers. Then it is most common for boom gates to lower and for lights to flash. It depends if the driver is willing to driver under, or around the boom gate(s). It takes trains about one mile to stop, where it takes a passenger vehicle only 200 feet to stop. Civilians that are daredevil drivers and think that they can avoid the train, will drive quickly across, but may be hit by the train. In court the railroad is to blame because they were not doing enough to protect the drivers. Railroads have every possible aspect to provide safety for crossing drivers. It depends if the driver is willing to wait a few minutes to pass, or jump the track and possibly lose their