Posted on Aug 16, 2016
People keep dying because these calls for change are often ignored
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The same recommendation was made more than 45 years later — when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight people in May 2015.
People keep dying because these calls for change are often ignored
Posted from nj.com
Safety
Trains
Trucks
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 14
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RP Members and Connections, another great link and post from Kim Bolen. What are your thoughts? Please share! Your opinion counts
Stephen Domingos Cpl Matt Maddux SGT(P) Gloria Francis PFC David Lane CPL Rene Wruck SPC Jesse Barber PFC Jim Wheeler Sgt Justin Kane SFC (Join to see) SGT Keith Wilson PFC Ronald Maddox TSgt Denise Moody Sgt David Gibson PVT (Join to see)
MSgt John McGowan Angela Hawkins SPC Jill Drushal, RN, MA PO1 George Bouchard SSG Ronald Robinson
Stephen Domingos Cpl Matt Maddux SGT(P) Gloria Francis PFC David Lane CPL Rene Wruck SPC Jesse Barber PFC Jim Wheeler Sgt Justin Kane SFC (Join to see) SGT Keith Wilson PFC Ronald Maddox TSgt Denise Moody Sgt David Gibson PVT (Join to see)
MSgt John McGowan Angela Hawkins SPC Jill Drushal, RN, MA PO1 George Bouchard SSG Ronald Robinson
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Capt Seid Waddell
Inertia. People don't want to spend the money to make the change until a disaster strikes.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
LTC Jesse Edwards - Its up at the picture Jesse - if your on a phone you may not be able to get to it!
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
1SG Dennis Jones - Dennis - try this:
https://www.rallypoint.com/shared-links/people-keep-dying-because-these-calls-for-change-are-often-ignored?urlhash=1922075&cid=5272077&email_token=YjBreGNXNHpRMEpXTm1adGFVRXJibEF3WlM4eWQzTjFMMFIxVnpKeE5YbFpiakJOTVdGVmNtdDVWVDB0TFhKMWRuazRja2gyVFhGWk0zTnBaR1F5YzFCT1pVRTlQUT09LS02NzFjYzJmZTAwYjM5MDI2MzU2MmQyMTJhM2RmZTY5ZTYzYjZlNWNl&utm_campaign=activity&utm_content=notifications&utm_medium=unpaid&utm_source=email
https://www.rallypoint.com/shared-links/people-keep-dying-because-these-calls-for-change-are-often-ignored?urlhash=1922075&cid=5272077&email_token=YjBreGNXNHpRMEpXTm1adGFVRXJibEF3WlM4eWQzTjFMMFIxVnpKeE5YbFpiakJOTVdGVmNtdDVWVDB0TFhKMWRuazRja2gyVFhGWk0zTnBaR1F5YzFCT1pVRTlQUT09LS02NzFjYzJmZTAwYjM5MDI2MzU2MmQyMTJhM2RmZTY5ZTYzYjZlNWNl&utm_campaign=activity&utm_content=notifications&utm_medium=unpaid&utm_source=email
People keep dying because these calls for change are often ignored | RallyPoint
The same recommendation was made more than 45 years later — when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight people in May 2015.
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Investment in infrastructure improvement is not glamourous and tends to be very expensive Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM In this nation HHS has the lions share of the budget pie while the department of transportation has a much smaller share at the national level and liberal-politician dominated states.
Background: The rail networks and canal and river transport were a mainstay in the 1800s and early 20th century. After the automobile boom of the early 20th century and the development of the diesel engine, DoD undertook the design and development of the interstate road system. The interstate system enabled the trucking industry to grow by leaps and bounds.
Interestingly the passenger bus system has declined in popularity over the past 50 years while low cost air fare and train travel in the train corridors has picked up the slack.
A century ago the railroad companies owned and maintained the rail lines. When AMTRACK came along as a private-public "partnership" the government got into the mix of rail use.
Thankfully we live in a nation where building codes are high and consistently used in general. Every year thousands die in train derailments, buses tumbling over cliffs, buildings collapsing and houses being swept out to see in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to name three countries. China is making progress but still has away to go.
"Former NTSB Managing Director Peter Goelz said the safety board offers the best solutions it can think of without worrying about cost. "The genius of the NTSB is that they're not a regulatory agency, which allows them to make recommendations that are based solely on the facts," Goelz said. "A lot of what they recommend is awfully difficult to do and involves significant rethinking of how you approach transportation safety."
1. The NTSB recommendations for commuter train safety
a. Positive train control [automatic speed control for railroads sounds good. Of course the system needs to be (1) hack-proof (2) robust enough to function in electrical system failure and (3) should have manual override when everything else fails.
b. Preventing driver fatigue via fatigue management programs for drivers and supervisors [requires (1) funding to implement from federal and state coffers and (2) sufficient train engineers so that adequate rest between jobs is possible. In order to keep train travel at a reasonable cost, staff may well be the long pole in the train tent. Some people need less sleep to function than others and the amounts of sleep we need vary over the course our lives.]
The Federal government solutions tends to use meat cleavers and sledge hammers instead of the surgical tools that would make more sense to use.
In 2010, my wife I were driving up the NJ turnpike to attend my 30th reunion at West Point. We saw the aftermath of a small sports car zipping through traffic and the driver was beheaded when he went under a steadily moving semi. Semi truck drivers tend to be professional and courteous. Many car, pickup and SUV drivers are not.
While each death is tragic and grievous to those involved, the priorities of our national leaders are focused in other areas. May God have mercy on this nation.
Thanks for mentioning me COL Mikel J. Burroughs
Thanks for being a safe driver SPC (Join to see)
LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 Charlie Poulton CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) SSgt Robert Marx TSgt Joe C. SGT (Join to see) SGT Robert Hawks SGT Robert George SGT John " Mac " McConnell SGT Forrest Stewart SP5 Mark Kuzinski SrA Christopher Wright
Background: The rail networks and canal and river transport were a mainstay in the 1800s and early 20th century. After the automobile boom of the early 20th century and the development of the diesel engine, DoD undertook the design and development of the interstate road system. The interstate system enabled the trucking industry to grow by leaps and bounds.
Interestingly the passenger bus system has declined in popularity over the past 50 years while low cost air fare and train travel in the train corridors has picked up the slack.
A century ago the railroad companies owned and maintained the rail lines. When AMTRACK came along as a private-public "partnership" the government got into the mix of rail use.
Thankfully we live in a nation where building codes are high and consistently used in general. Every year thousands die in train derailments, buses tumbling over cliffs, buildings collapsing and houses being swept out to see in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to name three countries. China is making progress but still has away to go.
"Former NTSB Managing Director Peter Goelz said the safety board offers the best solutions it can think of without worrying about cost. "The genius of the NTSB is that they're not a regulatory agency, which allows them to make recommendations that are based solely on the facts," Goelz said. "A lot of what they recommend is awfully difficult to do and involves significant rethinking of how you approach transportation safety."
1. The NTSB recommendations for commuter train safety
a. Positive train control [automatic speed control for railroads sounds good. Of course the system needs to be (1) hack-proof (2) robust enough to function in electrical system failure and (3) should have manual override when everything else fails.
b. Preventing driver fatigue via fatigue management programs for drivers and supervisors [requires (1) funding to implement from federal and state coffers and (2) sufficient train engineers so that adequate rest between jobs is possible. In order to keep train travel at a reasonable cost, staff may well be the long pole in the train tent. Some people need less sleep to function than others and the amounts of sleep we need vary over the course our lives.]
The Federal government solutions tends to use meat cleavers and sledge hammers instead of the surgical tools that would make more sense to use.
In 2010, my wife I were driving up the NJ turnpike to attend my 30th reunion at West Point. We saw the aftermath of a small sports car zipping through traffic and the driver was beheaded when he went under a steadily moving semi. Semi truck drivers tend to be professional and courteous. Many car, pickup and SUV drivers are not.
While each death is tragic and grievous to those involved, the priorities of our national leaders are focused in other areas. May God have mercy on this nation.
Thanks for mentioning me COL Mikel J. Burroughs
Thanks for being a safe driver SPC (Join to see)
LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 Charlie Poulton CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) SSgt Robert Marx TSgt Joe C. SGT (Join to see) SGT Robert Hawks SGT Robert George SGT John " Mac " McConnell SGT Forrest Stewart SP5 Mark Kuzinski SrA Christopher Wright
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MAJ Rene De La Rosa
Agree with you on the infrastructure needs, LTC Stephen Ford. These are necessary items that we have tended to underfund because we don't like to pay for things. This will soon come home to roost!
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I suspect that no change has happened because the rail and trucking industries lobby Congress so they will not have to spend the money needed for implementation.
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Change will come when we value Human Life over the All Mighty Dollar. When we are ready to Invest in Infrastructure. When we "Really" care and stop offering platitudes and "Prayers". Maybe when the Survivors put a serious Crunch into those Screwing the Pooch's Pocket Book.
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Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM, I realize the government is slow when it comes to industrial safety. Look how long it took to get chemical emissions released in the atmosphere, reduced to a safe number, before government finally got on board. OSHA came out with a figure of 1% of chemicals can be released. Then they dropped it to .5 %. Where I worked, our plant manager took it all the way down to .01%.
What I'm getting at is that the government takes a long time to have better safety regulations, in place, to reduce injuries and deaths. But, the truck drivers , the train engineers, the cities transit system, etc. can take it on themselves to govern how long a trucker can drive, or how long a train engineer can be on duty. OSHA should get involved to help establish, or mandate, safety regulations for the drivers. Pilots have regs they have to follow for flying. Truckers and train engineers should too.
What I'm getting at is that the government takes a long time to have better safety regulations, in place, to reduce injuries and deaths. But, the truck drivers , the train engineers, the cities transit system, etc. can take it on themselves to govern how long a trucker can drive, or how long a train engineer can be on duty. OSHA should get involved to help establish, or mandate, safety regulations for the drivers. Pilots have regs they have to follow for flying. Truckers and train engineers should too.
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Nothing is more frightening than change when, in fact, we should fear not changing. Still, change is a leap into the unknown like that first jump in airborne school. It takes courage and a little recklessness. A lot of daring and a suspension of common sense. That may sound counter intuitive, but think about it. I have been an early implementer of new technologies all my life. I've been burned for it more than a few times. But I've also enjoyed many rewards.
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Interesting and informative. As a regular citizen, I've always assumed that NTSB recommendations were routinely implemented. Face palm moment, that's because I work in aviation. In this industry, anything that enhances safety for the flying public usually becomes mandatory, almost to the point of extreme in some cases. The modifications mentioned in this article don't seem too costly as compared to those we install on aircraft. Incidentally, far more people are killed on the roads than from aviation mishaps.
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Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM There are so many examples of this in world of people dying because we haven't made changes and there are a lot we've saved for shanges that have been made - it goes both ways! I'd like to get the opinions of others here on RP.
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