Safety

[Jason Saunders]

www.scpr.org/news/2010/01/04/metro-gold-line-train-hits-truck-east-la/

Monday Jan. 4th, 2010

A Metro Gold Line train hit a truck that was making an illegal U-turn today in East Los Angeles, but no one was hurt, according to authorities.

The accident was reported about 10:30 a.m. at Third Street and Downey Road, said Inspector Matt Levesque of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Gold Line service was interrupted for 18 minutes, and was then resumed using "single tracking" around the site while crews worked to clear the track on which the accident occurred, Ubaldo said.

After about an hour, the train was moved from the accident scene, and full train service was restored.

[spokker]

The moral of the story is that we should make it safer for drivers to illegal U-turns in East LA.

People like the posters at the LA Eastside blog, whom I assume are in tune with the community, will bitch about safety on the Eastside Extension but then defend the right of Eastside drivers to drive without insurance or licenses.

[kenalpern]

While I'm not into abusing anyone with checkpoints, overregulation, speedtraps, etc., driving is not a right but a privilege--and it's no secret that the majority of B.S. accidents that are entirely avoidable and a result of outrageously inappropriate driving are also done by people who have no right whatsoever to be behind the wheel.

[tonyw79sfv]

www.ocregister.com/news/accident-226927-train-vehicle.html

No passenger trains were involved, but it happened on the same tracks Metrolink's 91 Line runs on at Tustin and Orangethorpe in Placentia. Impatient BMW driver skirts rail crossing gates in a hurry to get to the airport and the Beemer is totaled. No fatalities.

Really, I can't come to grips as to whether we should let a lot of automobile drivers have the privilege to drive; they cut in front of anything that impedes them, whether it'd be pedestrians, bicycles, other cars, buses, trucks, big rigs, light rail trains, commuter trains, and freight trains. For all we know, they probably won't mind playing Russian roulette with an Airbus A380 taking off.

[spokker]

Look at all those gates. Clearly more signage is needed. Environmental and social factors were also a problem. Trains and rich a-holes don't mix.

[jeisenbe]

Spokker said "clearly more signage is needed".
Is this sarcasm? Sorry, I can't tell. I don't see how a sign could have helped.
When I looked at the street view, I noticed, Wow, there are 4-quadrant gates on THREE sides of the intersection between the rails and the road. I can't imagine how those guys got their BMW in the way of the train. Did they start to go through before the arms came down, or did they drive on the wrong side of the street to avoid the 4-quad gates?
The only improvements to this crossing would be 1: a fourth set of gates on the one side of the street that is currently open (however, the only way to get through there is to drive the wrong-way down a divided highway for a block) or 2: bollards?
Really, how did those guys get around all those gates?

[spokker]

It was sarcasm, yes. The driver was attempting to beat the train according to witnesses.

[snuffy]

Has anyone noticed that Metro installed a new fence between RR tracks in the 1st street/Little Tokyo Area? It's probably for the safety issue but not good for a photo shoot.