According to a July 19, AP report “The operator of a light-rail train that crashed [in San Francisco], injuring dozens of passengers as well as the operator, came under scrutiny on Sunday as federal investigators tried to figure out why he turned off the automatic controls moments before the accident. Ted Turpin, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the operator switched the controls from automatic to manual in a tunnel near the West Portal Station and that he never engaged the emergency brake. Had the operator kept the autopilot on, Mr. Turpin said, the train would have slowed down before arriving at the station and most likely not have careened into a parked train while going 23 miles per hour.”
Repair New York Bridges Before a Tragedy
September 8, 2011
In Western New York, the Federal Highway Administration has classified 195 bridges as structurally deficient. In the Rochester-Finger Lakes Region, 214 bridges as structurally deficient. In the Southern Tier, 354 bridges classified as structurally deficient by the FHA.