Yep, it was our infrastructure alright

[BluesLegend]

Just another example of liberals lying and abusing a tragedy and deaths to further their agenda dishonestly, I'm not shocked are you?

 

[strollingbones]

he doesnt misinterpret...he ignores

 

[Rexx Taylor]

The NTSB is currently determining whether the engineer of the doomed Amtrak train #188 was on his phone during the night of the crash. But all I've heard thus far is that our sagging infrastructure is to blame, most of that coming from the left side of the aisle. Tell me liberals and Democrats, how does a sagging infrastructure cause an engineer to whip his phone out, while running a passenger train, and endanger the safety and welfare of the passengers? What role did the infrastructure play in his stupidity? Can you answer me honestly? I'm sure you can't. But you'll simply use this disaster, and those who died, to great lengths to effectuate the need for more infrastructure anyway.

Progress!

PHILADELPHIA - Investigators are combing through phone records, locomotive data, radio transmissions and surveillance video to determine if the engineer in last week's deadly Amtrak derailment was using his cellphone while at the controls, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Bostian's phone records show calls were made, text messages were sent and data was used the day of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said, but it remains unclear if the phone was used while the train was in motion.

Investigators won't be able make that determination until after a time-consuming analysis comparing time stamps from Bostian's subpoenaed phone records with those from an on-board data recorder, video and other sources, the NTSB said.

The May 12 derailment killed 8 people and injured more than 200. Investigators are looking into why the train from Washington to New York City was going double the 50 mph limit around a sharp curve.

Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, has said he kept his cellphone in a bag and used it only to call 911 afterward. Bostian, who was injured, told investigators he had no recollection of the crash, the NTSB said.

"The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cellphone and dialing 911," Goggin told ABC News the day after the crash.

Goggin has not returned repeated messages from The Associated Press.

The NTSB also said Wednesday that the engineer of a different commuter train struck by a projectile minutes before the derailment told investigators he did not notice anything unusual when the Amtrak train passed by on a parallel track.

http://6abc.com/news/ntsb-has-possession-of-amtrak-engineers-cell-phone/732726/

why didnt the far left loonies use the same blame on the twin towers, and the Minnesota bridge collapse?

 

[TemplarKormac]

The NTSB is currently determining whether the engineer of the doomed Amtrak train #188 was on his phone during the night of the crash. But all I've heard thus far is that our sagging infrastructure is to blame, most of that coming from the left side of the aisle. Tell me liberals and Democrats, how does a sagging infrastructure cause an engineer to whip his phone out, while running a passenger train, and endanger the safety and welfare of the passengers? What role did the infrastructure play in his stupidity? Can you answer me honestly? I'm sure you can't. But you'll simply use this disaster, and those who died, to great lengths to effectuate the need for more infrastructure anyway.

Progress!

PHILADELPHIA - Investigators are combing through phone records, locomotive data, radio transmissions and surveillance video to determine if the engineer in last week's deadly Amtrak derailment was using his cellphone while at the controls, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Bostian's phone records show calls were made, text messages were sent and data was used the day of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said, but it remains unclear if the phone was used while the train was in motion.

Investigators won't be able make that determination until after a time-consuming analysis comparing time stamps from Bostian's subpoenaed phone records with those from an on-board data recorder, video and other sources, the NTSB said.

The May 12 derailment killed 8 people and injured more than 200. Investigators are looking into why the train from Washington to New York City was going double the 50 mph limit around a sharp curve.

Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, has said he kept his cellphone in a bag and used it only to call 911 afterward. Bostian, who was injured, told investigators he had no recollection of the crash, the NTSB said.

"The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cellphone and dialing 911," Goggin told ABC News the day after the crash.

Goggin has not returned repeated messages from The Associated Press.

The NTSB also said Wednesday that the engineer of a different commuter train struck by a projectile minutes before the derailment told investigators he did not notice anything unusual when the Amtrak train passed by on a parallel track.

http://6abc.com/news/ntsb-has-possession-of-amtrak-engineers-cell-phone/732726/

You're joking, right?

Why would I be?

 

[TemplarKormac]

Well - was there a reason it wasn't on? Get the details before you misinterpret the facts.

Someone chose not to, for some inane reason, turn it on you dolt. How else would it already be installed and not turned on?

How willfully obtuse can you be?

 

[TemplarKormac]

The NTSB is currently determining whether the engineer of the doomed Amtrak train #188 was on his phone during the night of the crash. But all I've heard thus far is that our sagging infrastructure is to blame, most of that coming from the left side of the aisle. Tell me liberals and Democrats, how does a sagging infrastructure cause an engineer to whip his phone out, while running a passenger train, and endanger the safety and welfare of the passengers? What role did the infrastructure play in his stupidity? Can you answer me honestly? I'm sure you can't. But you'll simply use this disaster, and those who died, to great lengths to effectuate the need for more infrastructure anyway.

Progress!

PHILADELPHIA - Investigators are combing through phone records, locomotive data, radio transmissions and surveillance video to determine if the engineer in last week's deadly Amtrak derailment was using his cellphone while at the controls, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Bostian's phone records show calls were made, text messages were sent and data was used the day of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said, but it remains unclear if the phone was used while the train was in motion.

Investigators won't be able make that determination until after a time-consuming analysis comparing time stamps from Bostian's subpoenaed phone records with those from an on-board data recorder, video and other sources, the NTSB said.

The May 12 derailment killed 8 people and injured more than 200. Investigators are looking into why the train from Washington to New York City was going double the 50 mph limit around a sharp curve.

Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, has said he kept his cellphone in a bag and used it only to call 911 afterward. Bostian, who was injured, told investigators he had no recollection of the crash, the NTSB said.

"The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cellphone and dialing 911," Goggin told ABC News the day after the crash.

Goggin has not returned repeated messages from The Associated Press.

The NTSB also said Wednesday that the engineer of a different commuter train struck by a projectile minutes before the derailment told investigators he did not notice anything unusual when the Amtrak train passed by on a parallel track.

http://6abc.com/news/ntsb-has-possession-of-amtrak-engineers-cell-phone/732726/

You're joking, right?

Geez, nobody here has ever heard of sarcasm...

 

[TemplarKormac]

Anyway, the PTC has been installed in a few short sections of rail along the NE run but Amtrak has lacked the funding to fully comply with the law and some of the railway belongs to private companies and they don't have the authority to install it there (yeah - your Congress at work).

Actually, it was installed on that section of track, and on that train. In that case the money should have saved the lives of those 8 people. There is nothing to blame this on but the engineer, not the infrastructure.

 

[TemplarKormac]

"Amtrak is a massive failure because it’s wedded to a failed paradigm. It runs trains that serve political purposes as opposed to being responsive to the marketplace. America needs passenger trains in selected areas, but it doesn’t need Amtrak’s antiquated route system, poor service and unreasonable operating deficits."

-Anthony Haswell, founder of the National Association of Railroad Passengers and a person widely recognized as the inspiration for Amtrak

Increasing amounts of money have been spent on Amtrak railroad infrastructure, but little has been accomplished. Tell me, what would giving it more funding do? Ever hear of the ye olde proverb "Throwing more money at the problem won't solve the problem?"

The very reason we have these problems is because Amtrak rests in the hands of our dear government. And since when has government ever done anything to improve our infrastructure? Democrats and Republicans have failed to do so equally.

Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on Amtrak, yet still Amtrak has not been able to outfit its entire system with this PTC. It's lack of profits and high financial losses in the past have impeded any progress of this kind, even though now its losses are less severe, that's not infrastructure, it's financial malfeasance. When you fail to manage money and fail to use it on critical projects like the PTC, accidents like these happen. Mismanagement of funds, not infrastructure.

Did it ever occur to you that no amount of spending will fix this? How about you start by privatizing Amtrak instead of leaving it in the hands of our oh-so-capable government? Look to Japan, they privatized its high speed rail system in 1987.

If I recall, the Amagsaki derailment of 2005 in Japan was of the same nature as this one, and after the driver ran the red light, the ATS (Automatic Train Stop) system on the train stopped it dead on the tracks, yet still the train crashed due to the driver speeding around a curve. Did Japan's infrastructure fail? No. The driver did, and lost his life for it.

Here are other similar incidents over the past 109 years (including this one):


Too fast around sharp curve (via Wikipedia)

• United Kingdom Salisbury rail crash, 1906 – 28 killed
• United States Malbone Street Wreck, 1918 in New York – 98 killed
• Australia Camp Mountain train disaster, 1947 – 16 killed
• Japan Hachikō Line derailment, February 1947 – 184 killed
• United Kingdom Sutton Coldfield train disaster, 1955 – 17 killed
• United Kingdom Morpeth rail crashes, 1969, 1984, 1994 – a total of 6 killed in three separate accidents
• United Kingdom Eltham Well Hall rail crash, 1972 – 6 killed
• Italy Piacenza derailment, 1997 – 8 killed
• Germany Brühl train disaster, 2000 – 9 killed
• Australia Waterfall train disaster, 2003 – 7 killed
• Australia Cairns Tilt Train derailment, 2004 – 0 killed
• Spain Valencia Metro derailment, 2006 – 41 killed
• Spain Santiago de Compostela derailment, 2013 – 79 killed
• United States Spuyten Duyvil derailment – 4 killed
• United States 2015 Philadelphia train derailment – 8 killed

In each instance the driver/engineer went too fast around a sharp curve, causing the train to derail. Even the instance in 1906 was due to "pilot error" as it were. In none of those instances was the infrastructure to blame for the accident.

oldernwiser

 

[Dragonlady]

It's already installed. It wasn't turned on because of FTC red tape.

Wrong dickwad! They installed it when they repair the track after the crash. It was NOT installed prior to the crash.

As for the poster who said the installation schedule was "too aggressive", this is also false. The technology has been available for 5 years. It wasn't installed because Amtrak runs in the red, and didn't have enough funding to install it throughout the corridor.

 

[TooTall]

The NTSB is currently determining whether the engineer of the doomed Amtrak train #188 was on his phone during the night of the crash. But all I've heard thus far is that our sagging infrastructure is to blame, most of that coming from the left side of the aisle. Tell me liberals and Democrats, how does a sagging infrastructure cause an engineer to whip his phone out, while running a passenger train, and endanger the safety and welfare of the passengers? What role did the infrastructure play in his stupidity? Can you answer me honestly? I'm sure you can't. But you'll simply use this disaster, and those who died, to great lengths to effectuate the need for more infrastructure anyway.

Progress!

PHILADELPHIA - Investigators are combing through phone records, locomotive data, radio transmissions and surveillance video to determine if the engineer in last week's deadly Amtrak derailment was using his cellphone while at the controls, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Bostian's phone records show calls were made, text messages were sent and data was used the day of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said, but it remains unclear if the phone was used while the train was in motion.

Investigators won't be able make that determination until after a time-consuming analysis comparing time stamps from Bostian's subpoenaed phone records with those from an on-board data recorder, video and other sources, the NTSB said.

The May 12 derailment killed 8 people and injured more than 200. Investigators are looking into why the train from Washington to New York City was going double the 50 mph limit around a sharp curve.

Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, has said he kept his cellphone in a bag and used it only to call 911 afterward. Bostian, who was injured, told investigators he had no recollection of the crash, the NTSB said.

"The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cellphone and dialing 911," Goggin told ABC News the day after the crash.

Goggin has not returned repeated messages from The Associated Press.

The NTSB also said Wednesday that the engineer of a different commuter train struck by a projectile minutes before the derailment told investigators he did not notice anything unusual when the Amtrak train passed by on a parallel track.

http://6abc.com/news/ntsb-has-possession-of-amtrak-engineers-cell-phone/732726/

Pinhead!

There is a device called a PTC - Positive Train Control - that has already been legislated to be installed in trains and on tracks. It uses GPS as well as intertrain communication to be able to detect things like going too fast for a section of track or warning that another train is also on the same track. This device is both passive and assertive - it first warns the engineer of something he should take action on and, in the case the idiot was streaming porn on his phone or had a heart attack or a stroke or otherwise failed to take prudent action, would assume control and stop the train. It's not like all the other warning devices on a train which can be manually suppressed (which is what happens when engineers get really comfortable with their section of track). Anyway, the PTC has been installed in a few short sections of rail along the NE run but Amtrak has lacked the funding to fully comply with the law and some of the railway belongs to private companies and they don't have the authority to install it there (yeah - your Congress at work). That funding comes under the heading of infrastructure and had the railway been fitted with the available (and mandatory) equipment, this is a disaster that could have been avoided whether Bostian was on the phone or not.

And BTW - NTSB does an incredible job of investigating crashes. Examining Bostian's phone is one of those stones they wouldn't leave unturned. So just because they're looking at it doesn't imply anything.

Why wasn't AMTRAC using the ATS system until the PTC system in installed?

"Approach control at junctions uses electronic circuits in the track to prevent a signal turning green until a train's speed has been reduced to the line limit. If a train passes the red signal, automatic train stop (ATS) applies the brakes.

These systems date back to the late 1800s and, in modern form, provide protection to train passengers around the world.

Approach control adds a few minutes to the running time of a train, which may explain why it was not in use in New York. ATS was not installed during the 2008 Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth because it was not required, as the speed limit was lower than 90 mph.

ATS is considered obsolete, but it works. Instead, we have opted for a high-tech solution that may or may not do the job when it is switched on.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Wrong dickwad! They installed it when they repair the track after the crash. It was NOT installed prior to the crash.

Wrong Dicklady! The PTC system was installed prior to the crash, not after the crash. It had not been turned on. Simple.

 

[oldernwiser]

Well - was there a reason it wasn't on? Get the details before you misinterpret the facts.

Someone chose not to, for some inane reason, turn it on you dolt. How else would it already be installed and not turned on?

How willfully obtuse can you be?

Here's how "willfully obtuse" I can be. I knew I had heard this at one point, but I couldn't find the reference until now.

From that link: "ATC speed controls are in place at the curve for southbound trains, which enter the 50-mph curve from a maximum speed of 110 mph, Amtrak says. But they are not in place for northbound trains, which enter from a maximum speed of 80 mph."

Which way was that train traveling?

 

[oldernwiser]

"Amtrak is a massive failure because it’s wedded to a failed paradigm. It runs trains that serve political purposes as opposed to being responsive to the marketplace. America needs passenger trains in selected areas, but it doesn’t need Amtrak’s antiquated route system, poor service and unreasonable operating deficits."

-Anthony Haswell, founder of the National Association of Railroad Passengers and a person widely recognized as the inspiration for Amtrak

Increasing amounts of money have been spent on Amtrak railroad infrastructure, but little has been accomplished. Tell me, what would giving it more funding do? Ever hear of the ye olde proverb "Throwing more money at the problem won't solve the problem?"

The very reason we have these problems is because Amtrak rests in the hands of our dear government. And since when has government ever done anything to improve our infrastructure? Democrats and Republicans have failed to do so equally.

Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on Amtrak, yet still Amtrak has not been able to outfit its entire system with this PTC. It's lack of profits and high financial losses in the past have impeded any progress of this kind, even though now its losses are less severe, that's not infrastructure, it's financial malfeasance. When you fail to manage money and fail to use it on critical projects like the PTC, accidents like these happen. Mismanagement of funds, not infrastructure.

Did it ever occur to you that no amount of spending will fix this? How about you start by privatizing Amtrak instead of leaving it in the hands of our oh-so-capable government? Look to Japan, they privatized its high speed rail system in 1987.

If I recall, the Amagsaki derailment of 2005 in Japan was of the same nature as this one, and after the driver ran the red light, the ATS (Automatic Train Stop) system on the train stopped it dead on the tracks, yet still the train crashed due to the driver speeding around a curve. Did Japan's infrastructure fail? No. The driver did, and lost his life for it.

Here are other similar incidents over the past 109 years (including this one):


Too fast around sharp curve (via Wikipedia)

• United Kingdom Salisbury rail crash, 1906 – 28 killed
• United States Malbone Street Wreck, 1918 in New York – 98 killed
• Australia Camp Mountain train disaster, 1947 – 16 killed
• Japan Hachikō Line derailment, February 1947 – 184 killed
• United Kingdom Sutton Coldfield train disaster, 1955 – 17 killed
• United Kingdom Morpeth rail crashes, 1969, 1984, 1994 – a total of 6 killed in three separate accidents
• United Kingdom Eltham Well Hall rail crash, 1972 – 6 killed
• Italy Piacenza derailment, 1997 – 8 killed
• Germany Brühl train disaster, 2000 – 9 killed
• Australia Waterfall train disaster, 2003 – 7 killed
• Australia Cairns Tilt Train derailment, 2004 – 0 killed
• Spain Valencia Metro derailment, 2006 – 41 killed
• Spain Santiago de Compostela derailment, 2013 – 79 killed
• United States Spuyten Duyvil derailment – 4 killed
• United States 2015 Philadelphia train derailment – 8 killed

In each instance the driver/engineer went too fast around a sharp curve, causing the train to derail. Even the instance in 1906 was due to "pilot error" as it were. In none of those instances was the infrastructure to blame for the accident.

oldernwiser

Operator error was never in doubt.
The issue is that equipment that was mandated by Congress in 2008 (because of the Spuyten Duyvil crash) to be in place and running this year - 7 years later - is nowhere near complete and quite likely won't be. Sen Schumer says this is due to constant reduction in funding. I haven't really gotten into the trenches with this issue, but there may more than a little mismanagement going on as well.

I wonder if you argued this hard against seatbelts - or were you around when that argument was taking place. A simple little life saving device which spent YEARS being debated with one side claiming, essentially, that if they wanted to drive like an idiot and die on the road that was THEIR business.

 

[oldernwiser]

The NTSB is currently determining whether the engineer of the doomed Amtrak train #188 was on his phone during the night of the crash. But all I've heard thus far is that our sagging infrastructure is to blame, most of that coming from the left side of the aisle. Tell me liberals and Democrats, how does a sagging infrastructure cause an engineer to whip his phone out, while running a passenger train, and endanger the safety and welfare of the passengers? What role did the infrastructure play in his stupidity? Can you answer me honestly? I'm sure you can't. But you'll simply use this disaster, and those who died, to great lengths to effectuate the need for more infrastructure anyway.

Progress!

PHILADELPHIA - Investigators are combing through phone records, locomotive data, radio transmissions and surveillance video to determine if the engineer in last week's deadly Amtrak derailment was using his cellphone while at the controls, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Bostian's phone records show calls were made, text messages were sent and data was used the day of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said, but it remains unclear if the phone was used while the train was in motion.

Investigators won't be able make that determination until after a time-consuming analysis comparing time stamps from Bostian's subpoenaed phone records with those from an on-board data recorder, video and other sources, the NTSB said.

The May 12 derailment killed 8 people and injured more than 200. Investigators are looking into why the train from Washington to New York City was going double the 50 mph limit around a sharp curve.

Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, has said he kept his cellphone in a bag and used it only to call 911 afterward. Bostian, who was injured, told investigators he had no recollection of the crash, the NTSB said.

"The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cellphone and dialing 911," Goggin told ABC News the day after the crash.

Goggin has not returned repeated messages from The Associated Press.

The NTSB also said Wednesday that the engineer of a different commuter train struck by a projectile minutes before the derailment told investigators he did not notice anything unusual when the Amtrak train passed by on a parallel track.

http://6abc.com/news/ntsb-has-possession-of-amtrak-engineers-cell-phone/732726/

Pinhead!

There is a device called a PTC - Positive Train Control - that has already been legislated to be installed in trains and on tracks. It uses GPS as well as intertrain communication to be able to detect things like going too fast for a section of track or warning that another train is also on the same track. This device is both passive and assertive - it first warns the engineer of something he should take action on and, in the case the idiot was streaming porn on his phone or had a heart attack or a stroke or otherwise failed to take prudent action, would assume control and stop the train. It's not like all the other warning devices on a train which can be manually suppressed (which is what happens when engineers get really comfortable with their section of track). Anyway, the PTC has been installed in a few short sections of rail along the NE run but Amtrak has lacked the funding to fully comply with the law and some of the railway belongs to private companies and they don't have the authority to install it there (yeah - your Congress at work). That funding comes under the heading of infrastructure and had the railway been fitted with the available (and mandatory) equipment, this is a disaster that could have been avoided whether Bostian was on the phone or not.

And BTW - NTSB does an incredible job of investigating crashes. Examining Bostian's phone is one of those stones they wouldn't leave unturned. So just because they're looking at it doesn't imply anything.

Why wasn't AMTRAC using the ATS system until the PTC system in installed?

"Approach control at junctions uses electronic circuits in the track to prevent a signal turning green until a train's speed has been reduced to the line limit. If a train passes the red signal, automatic train stop (ATS) applies the brakes.

These systems date back to the late 1800s and, in modern form, provide protection to train passengers around the world.

Approach control adds a few minutes to the running time of a train, which may explain why it was not in use in New York. ATS was not installed during the 2008 Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth because it was not required, as the speed limit was lower than 90 mph.

ATS is considered obsolete, but it works. Instead, we have opted for a high-tech solution that may or may not do the job when it is switched on.

They were. In the Southbound direction only.

 

[bripat9643]

Well - was there a reason it wasn't on? Get the details before you misinterpret the facts.

Someone chose not to, for some inane reason, turn it on you dolt. How else would it already be installed and not turned on?

How willfully obtuse can you be?

Here's how "willfully obtuse" I can be. I knew I had heard this at one point, but I couldn't find the reference until now.

From that link: "ATC speed controls are in place at the curve for southbound trains, which enter the 50-mph curve from a maximum speed of 110 mph, Amtrak says. But they are not in place for northbound trains, which enter from a maximum speed of 80 mph."

Which way was that train traveling?

southbound.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Operator error was never in doubt.

Then how can it be the equipment?

 

[oldernwiser]

Well - was there a reason it wasn't on? Get the details before you misinterpret the facts.

Someone chose not to, for some inane reason, turn it on you dolt. How else would it already be installed and not turned on?

How willfully obtuse can you be?

Here's how "willfully obtuse" I can be. I knew I had heard this at one point, but I couldn't find the reference until now.

From that link: "ATC speed controls are in place at the curve for southbound trains, which enter the 50-mph curve from a maximum speed of 110 mph, Amtrak says. But they are not in place for northbound trains, which enter from a maximum speed of 80 mph."

Which way was that train traveling?

southbound.

Yep - as long as DC is north of Philly.
Don't make me whip out mapquest.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Well - was there a reason it wasn't on? Get the details before you misinterpret the facts.

Someone chose not to, for some inane reason, turn it on you dolt. How else would it already be installed and not turned on?

How willfully obtuse can you be?

Here's how "willfully obtuse" I can be. I knew I had heard this at one point, but I couldn't find the reference until now.

From that link: "ATC speed controls are in place at the curve for southbound trains, which enter the 50-mph curve from a maximum speed of 110 mph, Amtrak says. But they are not in place for northbound trains, which enter from a maximum speed of 80 mph."

Which way was that train traveling?

southbound.

No, bripat, it was going northbound from Washington DC to New York City. Either way, oldernwiser can't blame the lack of the equipment for the crash. It was already equipped with PTC. The train entered the curve going 26 mph faster than the maximum northbound speed limit before the curve, it was going twice the limit during the curve. The train was required to slow to 50 mph from 80 mph in order to prevent derailment.

The train had already been equipped with the PTC. But somehow or another it was never turned on.

The whole idea of blaming one party or another for causing death is bush league. Once more, the whole idea of playing the dead as pawns in this whole issue turns my stomach. I honestly don't know how certain people sleep at night knowing the kind of sorry games they play with human life.

Now, to oldernwiser, I suggest you read this:

The Federal Railroad Administration said Saturday that it had instructed Amtrak to expand its use of a technology that would automatically stop speeding trains, an existing system that could have prevented the derailment of an Amtrak train on Tuesday.

That train was traveling at 106 m.p.h.,or more than twice the speed limit, when it came off the tracks, possibly after being struck by some kind of projectile. Eight people were killed and more than 200 people were injured.

The technology, called automatic train control, measures the speed of a passing train and alerts the engineer if the train is moving too fast. If the engineer does not slow the train, it applies the brakes.

This system is already in place on the southbound tracks on the site where the tracks [typo, meant crash] occurred, a rail yard northeast of Center City Philadelphia called Frankford Junction. A federal official familiar with the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it was in place on one track and not the other because southbound trains were required to make a more dramatic deceleration on the curve there than north bound trains were.

The southbound speed limit is 110 m.p.h. before the curve, and then drops to 50 m.p.h. On the northbound side, trains must slow from 80 m.p.h. to 50 m.p.h. The federal official said that if a train took the curve at 80 m.p.h., it would not derail, so the use of the automatic stop technology there was not required.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/u...-amtrak-to-expand-automatic-braking.html?_r=0

(In regards to the bolded: even if the train were going 80 mph around the curve, it would still have been going 30 mph over the required speed limit.)

Nothing here points to lack of equipment or funding; it was a lack of preparation. They had the equipment, they just simply never deployed it, on the now shoddy advice of the federal government.

 

[oldernwiser]

Operator error was never in doubt.

Then how can it be the equipment?

Did you not even read the details in your own link? Or do you just form an opinion and hold onto it until it's shot to pieces?

If there is a "magical" device which would keep you from ramming into the car ahead of you, would it be wise to actually use it? And, if you had been mandated to use it - even if you couldn't afford it - and still rammed into the car ahead of you, wouldn't you be DOUBLY at fault for operating in a reckless manner and for failing to have the equipment that would have stopped you? What if the manufacturer of your car was liable for it's installation, tell me you wouldn't try to sue if it was never installed or failed.

 

[TemplarKormac]

If there is a "magical" device which would keep you from ramming into the car ahead of you, would it be wise to actually use it?

Yes, we call it a brake pedal. The train had one too.

And, if you had been mandated to use it - even if you couldn't afford it - and still rammed into the car ahead of you, wouldn't you be DOUBLY at fault for operating in a reckless manner and for failing to have the equipment that would have stopped you?

If I couldn't afford the brake, what business would I have owning the car?

What if the manufacturer of your car was liable for it's installation, tell me you wouldn't try to sue if it was never installed or failed.

That isn't always the case. Therein lies the flaw in your point. You can't always pin the blame on the manufacturer. Sometimes the car is just fine, but there's an idiot driving it. Stupid people do stupid things, and other people get hurt or killed because of it.