Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Transportation of mass destruction


Warning: scheduled post. More death and mayhem may have occurred on L.A.'s light rail system between posting this and its appearance here.

On Jan. 6, 2003, Jacek "Jack" Wysocki rolled his Ford truck into the path of a Metrolink train traveling 79 mph. The 63-year-old driver was killed along with one train passenger; two train cars derailed and flipped, injuring 20 other Metrolink riders.

Exactly three years later, 76-year-old Maureen Osborn was killed after turning in front of a Metrolink commuter going 75 mph. Osborn's car was dragged a third of a mile before the train could stop.

244 deaths and hundreds of more non-fatal injuries in 15 years.

We think we have a workable model here. "Death Panels" via bad engineering, denial and negligence. One covers their bases more completely when approaching things in the comprehensive manner favored by Metrolink of Los Angeles.

Read more of this below-the-belt cheap shot (but below-the-belt never the less) expose' from the L.A. Times, here.

P.S. A Google image search for "train wrecks" also resulted in the following:



Both would suffice.