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.”
New but Not Better
June 27, 2011
We sometimes assume new is better. Not always the case.
Metal-on-metal hips, were sold as a major advance over previous designs that were made of metal and plastic. The Food and Drug Administration trying to determine how many people have been injured by the devices, which shed dangerous