America is about being bigger, better, and faster. You have seen this concept applied to various facets of our culture; in some situations, it may not have been optimal.
In a transportation unveiling, this proved to have an ill fate. Caution was not exercised in an industry that takes trusting lives into their hands every day.
Learning about not only what happened, but how it did, reveals insights that can prevent tragedy from striking again.
Fox News reported:
“An Amtrak passenger train with more than 80 people aboard derailed in Washington state on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more.”
It was outside of Tacoma where the passenger train became one of 26 Amtrak derailments that have occurred since 2014, and the fourth since then that has happened in Washington state alone, according to Fox News.
A large majority of the people in the tragic calamity were rushed to nearby hospitals. Out of the over 70 that went to the hospital, 2 were critical, 11 were deemed serious and 1 was taken to surgery.
Fox News reported:
“Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency after Amtrak train 501 derailed around 7:30 a.m. along Interstate 5 as it was leaving the new Tacoma station.”
Multiple sources say the train was speeding during the derailment that caused a total of 12 train cars and 2 engines to jump off the track.
USA Today reported:
“Train 501 was going 80 mph Monday in a curve posted for 30 mph when several cars derailed and dangled off a bridge above Interstate 5, according to Bella Dinh-Zarr, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board that is investigating.”
The cause for this speeding and the derailment that ensued is not clear. Investigators are looking toward the engineer being distracted, or a railroad obstruction.
President Trump tweeted his sympathies for the victims Monday after the crash, which read:
“My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the train accident in DuPont, Washington. Thank you to all of our wonderful First Responders who are on the scene. We are currently monitoring here at the White House.”
The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2017
President Trump, also, pointed out the irony in overseas spending, while our infrastructure is in need of attention here in the United States.
President Trump tweeted:
The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2017
During the Obama administration, the Democratic aim seemed to be making the United States a friend to everyone, to be politically correct in diplomacy, and to ignore the true needs of every citizen.
Thankfully, after the tremendous crash onto the highway, no motorists were killed, according to Pierce County officials.
Amtrak was launching a new line, called the “Cascades” service when the crash occurred. The new stretch was in efforts to run a faster train on a more direct route.
Fox News reported:
“Monday was the first day of schedule changes to include two new round trips between Seattle and Portland, according to the Amtrak website. Amtrak train 501 is part of the new route running between Portland and Seattle daily. The Washington Department of Transportation spent $180.7 million project on passenger train improvement project, which sped up service by removing passenger trains from a route along Puget Sound that’s bogged down by curves, single-track tunnels, and freight traffic.”
The Amtrak derailment was foretold with eerie accuracy by Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson in a comment to KOMO News after he proposed grade separations and was denied:
“Come back when there is that accident, and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements, or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it, because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens.”
Anderson, also, said, “It was only a matter of time a deadly derailment will occur.” This comment leaves many wondering if Amtrak had selfish interests when initiating this project that cost the lives of 3 people.
An important safety feature was set by Congress to be implemented by the end of 2018, that may have been able to prevent this unfortunate end.
USA Today reported:
“The technology collectively known as “Positive Train Control” provides signals between tracks, trains and dispatch centers to slow down speeding trains or to stop them at the appropriate signals if the engineer isn’t responding. Railroads are installing the technology piecemeal across the country at a cost of billions of dollars.”
“”The Positive Train Control equipment has been installed and is now still in testing, which is why the system has not been activated,” Jason Abrams, an Amtrak spokesman, said of the track owned by a Seattle-area transit company where the accident occurred.”
Whether or not the breaking system would have been used, it still does not account for the responsibility of the train engineer that was supposed to be in control of the speed.
As the investigation, that could likely take months, progresses we should have more definitive answers that will show whose shoulders this weighs most heavy.
Our prayers go out to those injured in the accident, and to those families that will never be the same after this tragedy.
Please, let us know in the comments section who you think bears the most responsibility in this scenario, and what should be done.