Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The recent tragic and deadly metro train wreck in Washington D.C. has many Los Angeles metro officials closely monitoring the news lately. According to a report in the LA Times Online, MTA officials say the automated train control system that is believed to have malfunctioned in the DC crash is very similar to the system that controls LA’s subway system.

"There is a lot of similarity between the system employed [in Washington] and the system we have on the Metro Red Line and Purple Line," said Michael Harris Gifford, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's chief engineer.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have began to focus their investigation on the control system after investigators found what they described only as an "anomaly" in part of the network -- a track signal circuit near the site of the crash.

This crash follows last year’s Chatsworth Metrolink train crash in Los Angeles that killed 25 people. That head on collision was a tragedy that has marred the local Metrolink system and is still the subject of an ongoing investigation.

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The website mercurynews.com reported in a story on May 4, 2009 that a woman was hit and killed on the Caltrain tracks at Mountain View’s San Antonio station. The unidentified woman was struck at about 11:30 a.m. Caltrain spokeswoman, said, “Preliminary information indicates that this incident was a suicide.” Authorities said the woman killed in the train accident in California was a white female in her 30’s or 40’s.

Transit detective stated that the accident happened close to one of the few openings in the fence besides the tracks, behind an apartment building. The women was sitting on the tracks when the train hit her about 40 miles per hour.

“It’s a very traumatic event for everyone involved,” said the detective.

No witnesses have been located. This was the first Caltrain death this year. Last year there were 16 fatalities. The highest number of deaths on record was 20 in 1995.

Train accidents are regular occurrences in the United States today. Although transportation has evolved since the inception of the train, they are being used on a daily basis. Trains are a cost-effective means of moving goods, including hazardous materials, across the country. Trains are frequently involved in accidents that critically injure passengers and other non-suspecting persons.

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