Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

A New York City commuter train derailed Sunday, killing four and injuring more than sixty others. According to authorities, the train was rounding a riverside curve when it derailed and sent a chain of toppled cars falling away from the track, just inches from the water. There were between one-hundred and one-hundred-fifty passengers traveling on the early morning Metro-North train from Poughkeepsie into Manhattan. Many of these passengers were jolted from sleep around 7:20 a.m., as they heard screams and felt their compartment rolling over on the bend where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet in the Bronx. Four or five of the seven cars left the rails. This accident was just the latest and deadliest example of troubles that the nation’s second-biggest commuter railroad has faced this past year.

Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke at a news conference Sunday about the accident. He expressed sadness for the loss of lives and further stated that the track did not appear to be faulty, so speed could have been the cause of the crash. The speed limit on the curve is 30 mph, but it is 70 mph in the area just before the curve. Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman Marjorie Anders stated that the train’s data recorders should reveal the speed of the train just before the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to conduct a thorough investigation into what happened by looking at things like the train, the track, signal system, train operators and speed.

One of the passengers aboard the train stated that it appeared to be going a lot faster than usual as it approached the curve and another passenger described how he awoke to see people screaming, people being thrown across the train, gravel coming at him, and smoke and debris everywhere. A nearby resident said it sounded like a plane had crashed.

NYC train derailment kills 4, hurts more than 60, www.miamiherald.com December 01, 2013

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More than a dozen students and two drivers were injured last Thursday afternoon in the Texas Panhandle area when a school bus and car collided. According to Amarillo police, investigations into the cause of the accident continued into Friday; however, no details on what exactly took place were immediately released. The bus that was involved in the accident was transporting Amarillo Independent School District students on a field trip. The bus departed de Zavala Middle School Thursday afternoon with forty-one students and a driver. It was not clear how long after the bus departed the school that the accident occurred.

Authorities stated that thirteen students sustained minor injuries. Those students were transported to local hospitals as a precautionary measure. The bus driver, after initially declining medical attention, was also later transported to a hospital for the treatment of minor injuries. The driver of the automobile involved in the crash remained hospitalized as of last Friday. No immediate details were released on the driver’s condition. Another school bus arrived sometime after the accident to transport the children who were not injured. No charges were filed against either driver immediately following the crash.

At least 15 hurt in Amarillo school bus accident, www.palmbeachpost.com November 22, 2013

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According to authorities and passengers aboard the Amtrak Crescent bound for New York City, several cars fell off the tracks early Monday morning, throwing baggage about the cars and forcing passengers to cling to each other for safety. It was shortly after midnight in Spartanburg County, South Carolina on a freezing night when the accident occurred. Amtrak stated that among the 207 passengers and 11 crew members, no one suffered serious injuries. One of the passengers aboard the train stated, “The car felt like it was about to flip over . . . I was holding on to my brother for dear life. Bags went everywhere. It was . . . really scary.”

Amtrak quickly provided alternative transportation, including buses and other trains, to provide a way for stranded passengers to reach their destinations further up north on the East Coast. Most passengers were stuck on the disabled train for hours before they were able to reach their new method of transportation. Amtrak had no immediate comment on what caused the cars to leave the tracks, but it did release a statement that seven of the nine cars on Train 20 that had departed from New Orleans left the tracks, but remained upright. According to authorities, the two locomotives of Train 20 remained on the tracks and upright.

Spartanburg County Deputy Fire Marshal Tony Barnett stated that no one sustained serious injuries; however, four passengers were transported to a hospital for evaluation of minor injuries. According to Amtrak, “Heating, lighting and other systems were quickly re-established aboard the train, with meals and other refreshments provided to the passengers.” One of the passengers stated that electricity was restored, but only two cars had heat as the passengers sat stranded in 20-degree temperatures in the middle of the woods. It was around 9 a.m. before more than 200 passengers were taken from the train to buses with scheduled stops in North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Investigations continue into what caused the cars to leave the track.

Amtrak train with 218 aboard goes off tracks in SC, www.palmbeachpost.com November 25, 2013

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The Coast Guard continued searching Wednesday for two individuals who were aboard a jet that went down in the Atlantic Ocean just off Florida’s coast Tuesday night. Rescuers also worked to haul in parts of the plane and asked boaters to stay out of the area due to safety concerns. The jet was known to be carrying four people who were on a medical trip and headed back to Mexico. The Learjet 35 had brought a patient to a South Florida hospital Tuesday night. According to authorities, not long after dropping off the patient, the jet took off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and moments later it plunged into the ocean approximately a mile off the coastline.

Mexico’s Transportation Department stated that two pilots, Jose Hiram Galvan de la O. and Josue Buendía Moreno, and two passengers, Fernando Senties Nieto and Mariana Gonzalez Isunza, were aboard the jet when it crashed. Mexican officials have not released which two individual’s bodies were found. Greg Meyer, a spokesman for the airport, confirmed that there were four people aboard the jet, including two pilots, a doctor, and a nurse. The company that runs the medical transport planes stated that the crew had just picked up a patient in Costa Rica and brought the patient to a South Florida hospital. According to Meyer, the jet was set to return to Cozumel, Mexico.

Shortly after takeoff, a distress call came in to the air traffic control tower in which one of the pilots stated, “We have an engine failure,” and he requested permission to proceed back to the runway. Just a few moments later, the pilot stated “may day, may day, may day.” The Federal Aviation Administration warned of potential issues it found in the Learjet 35 back in June. Maintenance workers found cracks in the control column on five Learjet 35 airplanes that were inspected. The problem was not deemed dangerous enough at the time to warrant further action.

Search-and-rescue continues after Fla. jet crash, www.palmbeachpost.com November 20, 2013

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Forty-five years after the National Transportation Board called for seat belt reform on commercial buses, safety advocates are still waiting for the government to put some sort of plan into action. One of the first times the NTSB spoke out publicly about the lack of seat belts on buses was after nineteen people were killed in a bus crash on a California highway caused by a drunken driver. Since that time, the NTSB has repeatedly called for seat belts or some other similar means to keep passengers in their seats during bus crashes. Around half of all bus fatalities are caused by rollover accidents, and around seventy percent of the individuals who die in rollover crashes were thrown from the bus.

The NTSB has also repeatedly recommended tougher windows that won’t pop out upon impact and roofs that can withstand crushing. Even though all of these recommendations have existed for nearly a half century, no requirements have been put in place. Since the NTSB made its initial recommendations forty-five years ago, hundreds of bus passengers have been killed and many more injured. One woman wrote to regulators and talked of her father’s tragic experience as a bus passenger. She said, “In 1998, my father was launched like a missile (out) a bus window and landed on his head on pavement. He is now permanently brain damaged and cannot even take care of himself.” She went on to comment on the issue of bus safety and said, “This issue has been around for decades and it needs to change, NOW, before more people die or are severely injured like my father.”

In 2009, the NTSB spoke out and said government inaction was partly to blame for the severe injuries sustained by passengers in a rollover crash in Utah, which ultimately killed nine and injured forty-three. The Transportation Secretary at that time, Ray LaHood, promised action to improve bus safety. That action still had not occurred as of last year, so Congress wrapped bus safety improvements into a larger transportation bill, which was signed into law. Regulations that would require seat belts on new buses are still under review by the White House. Other regulations dealing with bus windows and roofs are due by next September, but safety advocates doubt that the government will meet this deadline. According to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety organization, twenty-three people have been killed and three-hundred-twenty-nine injured in bus crashes so far this year. This number may continue to grow until serious steps are taken to increase bus safety.

Seat belts on commercial buses delayed 45 years, www.palmbeachpost.com November 12, 2013

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Federal accident investigators urged the government Thursday to look into the federal agency tasked with ensuring safety of commercial vehicles, as those investigators found that a look into four tour bus and truck crashes raised serious concerns about the agency’s performance. Documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration inspectors failed to respond to red flags that indicated serious safety issues on the part of bus and truck companies involved in crashes in Tennessee, Oregon, Kentucky, and California. In addition to those killed in the crashes, eighty-three individuals were injured, many of them seriously.

NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman stated that FMCSA needs to take action towards bus and truck companies that maintain unsafe vehicles “before crashes occur, not just after high visibility events.” For example, federal inspectors cleared a California bus tour company just a month before one of the company’s buses rolled over near San Bernardino last February. Seven passengers and a pickup truck driver were killed, eleven passengers sustained serious injuries, and twenty-two more suffered minor to moderate injuries. According to the bus driver, the brakes had failed. Just a month prior, federal investigators did not even ask to examine the company’s buses during their visit to the company’s headquarters, despite the fact that the company had been cited numerous times before for a number of mechanical problems. All six brakes on the crashed bus were found to be defective, something that could have been discovered by a proper inspection by federal officials.

Jacqueline Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said the NTSB’s findings are “very disturbing and, frankly, deadly for the public.” According to the FMCSA, the number of unsafe companies the administration has taken off the road has more than tripled over the past few years due to more comprehensive inspections and investigations. The statement issued by the FMCSA went on to say, “”We have also brought together key safety, industry and enforcement organizations to ask for their help and support our efforts. We are continuously looking for new ways to make our investigation methods even more effective so we shut down unsafe companies before a crash occurs and will thoroughly review the NTSB’s findings.”

Gov’t oversight of bus, truck industries faulted, www.palmbeachpost.com November 07, 2013

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Early last Wednesday morning a twenty-six-year-old bassist in a local Indie rock band was killed in a horrific wrong-way crash on Interstate 95. Everything seemed to have been going good for the band Ghost Cat. The group, comprised of four men, had recently returned to Florida from a recording session in Georgia, where it had recorded its first album. On Tuesday, the group played a gig in Orlando and then went on to play in Lake Worth that evening. Just hours later, Bryan Jackson, a passenger in his bandmate’s Ford Explorer, was lying dead on Interstate 95 near Stuart.

Bryan Jackson, a Port St. Lucie resident, was sitting in the backseat of twenty-seven-year-old Karsten Anderson’s SUV. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, thirty-one-year-old Troy Van Snook was driving his pickup truck south in the northbound lanes. Anderson crashed head-on into Van Snook’s truck, causing a chain-reaction crash around 1:47 a.m. just north of the Bridge Road exit. Anderson’s Ford Explorer rolled onto its side and came to rest in the middle of the Interstate 95 northbound lanes.

A guitarist for the band, Shane O’Brien was in the front passenger’s seat of the SUV. After the SUV rolled over, he managed to kick out the windshield and escape the vehicle just in time. Minutes later, a tractor trailer crashed into the SUV. The impact threw Jackson from the vehicle. A minivan also could not avoid impact with the SUV. Van Snook and Jackson were killed in the crash. Anderson suffered a serious leg injury. The driver and passenger in the tractor trailer and the driver of the minivan did not sustain any injuries.

Survivor of horrific I-95 crash that killed two: ‘It’s hard to believe seeing your best friend lying on the side of the road’, www.palmbeachpost.com October 30, 2013

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