CCTV footage has leaked out that captures the train wreck on Chicago’s CTA Blue Line Monday at Chicago O’Hare Airport—
The train operator has admitted that she “dozed off” before the accident and has done so before.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ted Turpin said the woman operating the train had been working as an operator for about two months and acknowledged she’d previously fallen asleep on the job in February, when her train partially missed a station.
“She did admit that she dozed off prior to entering the station,” he said during a briefing Wednesday. “She did not awake until the train hit.”
He said the woman, who was cooperating with the investigation, often worked an erratic schedule, filling in for other CTA employees.
“Her hours would vary every day,” he said.
The station remains closed and damage is expected to exceed $6MN USD.
Thankfully, while the injury count has risen to 30, no one was seriously injured.
Sadly, nothing will happen to the driver job action wise as the union protection kicked in. She’s got a proven skillset: driving and dozing. So now she’s qualified for an upgrade to CTA supervisor or a lateral to the federal NTSB/Federal Rail Admin. where she can become a safety lecturer. Can’t make it up. She will not be fired! Bankrupt Chicago will now have to pay out millions to the injured, but that’s on the taxpayer dime.
Why can’t they make the system automated? What part of the “driving” really require human decision? It’s simply GO and STOP, right? No steering involved. No SKILL involved.
And surely the technology is advanced enough that any obstruction can be detected and stop the train…