The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a recommendation to SEPTA and the Federal Railroad Administration that calls for the installation of cameras on all rail-transit vehicles. According to the NTSB, inward and outward-facing cameras could help determine what crewmembers were doing in the moments before a train crash. The cameras recommended by the NTSB would be crash-resistant and able to record audio.
Several train crashes have occurred over the past three decades, but investigators had difficulty discovering the causes. For example, the operator of the train that crashed on the Market-Frankford line earlier this year could not remember why the accident happened.
According to the NTSB, audio and image recorders would have been useful for determining the cause of 47 of the 64 crashes it investigated between 1976 and 2015.
Interviews with operators are one of many ways investigators determine the cause of a train crash. Investigators also rely on data collected by a train’s black box, interviews with witnesses and any other source of useful information. Cameras would become one more tool investigators could use to determine the cause of a crash. Much like with plane crashes, the outcome of a train accident investigation can help prevent future tragedies from occurring.
Our Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorneys Have Experience Helping Train Crash Victims
The Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., have experience helping victims of train crashes. In 2015, Amtrak Train No. 188 derailed. Eight people died and more than 200 were injured. Our law firm secured a record-breaking $255 million verdict for victims of the crash.
