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Metrolink Engineers Blamed for 2008 Rialto Train Accident

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that a Metrolink train accident in Rialto in 2008, which involved a commuter train and a freight carrier, was caused by the engineer on the Metrolink train.  It’s the latest probe to point fingers at the role of Metrolink engineers an accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board has now presented its final investigative report into the accident.  According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the accident was caused because an engineer and an assistant engineer on the train failed to stop the train in time, and ran a red light.  As a result, the commuter train ran off the signal, and scraped the side of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Train.

Fortunately, no one was killed in the accident, although four people were injured.   The accident caused $25,000 in damages.  The Rialto train accident occurred in November 2008.  Soon after the accident, officials at Metrolink ordered engineers to slow down to 40 mph or less when they saw a yellow signal.  This was done to allow engineers to have more time to prepare for an upcoming red light.  Until the 2008 Rialto accident, Metrolink engineers were allowed to continue operating the train at track speed, even when they saw the yellow signal.

The accident also caused great anxiety among Metrolink commuter than San Bernardino train accident lawyers, especially because it came just two months after the deadly Los Angeles train crash that killed 25 people.  That crash occurred in Chatsworth near Los Angeles, and involved a Metrolink commuter train crashing head-on into a Union Pacific freight train.

In that case, investigations found that the engineer at the controls of the Metrolink train missed a red light because he was distracted.  The engineer, Robert Sanchez, who also died in the crash, had been texting in the moments leading up to the tragedy.  This caused him to miss a red light, and the train ended up on the same tracks as the freight train.  It was one of the most devastating train accidents in recent California history, and left 25 dead.  More than 100 people were seriously injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board believes that collision warning systems that can stop trains headed on a collision path with another train could have likely prevented the Rialto accident.  Metrolink is currently involved in introducing the technology, called positive train control technology, on its tracks.  The technology is designed to detect when a train is on a collision path with another train, and apply the emergency brakes if the operator fails to react.

According to the San Bernardino train accident lawyers and train safety groups, the system would prevent numerous train collisions every year, and could likely have prevented the Chatsworth disaster too.  The company looks set to install the collision prevention technology to beat the federal deadline.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of train accidents in San Bernardino. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire to discuss a personal injury matter,  you can reach us at (909) 657-0576 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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