Actions of truck driver, trucking company led to fatal collision with Metra train, NTSB says

WASHINGTON — The actions of an improperly licensed truck driver were the probable cause of a fatal grade-crossing collision involving a Metra commuter train in Clarendon Hills, Ill., in May 2022, with the trucking company’s inadequate safety policies contributing to the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined in its final report.

The incident on May 11, 2022, led to the death of a Metra passenger ejected through a railcar window and injuries to four other people on board the train [see “Chicago’s Metra passenger killed …,” Trains News Wire, May 12, 2022]. It was only the second accident involving a passenger in Metra history and the first since 2005; the victim was later identified as 72-year-old Christina Lopez of Downers Grove, Ill.

The collision occurred at 8:16 a.m. at the Prospect Avenue grade crossing in Clarendon Hills, and involved inbound Metra BNSF line train No. 1242. The truck it hit had stalled as it encountered a short 6% grade and approximate 2-inch drop-off between pavement and tracks at the crossing, where road work was in progress. The driver was unable to restart the vehicle; he and two other occupants were able to get out of the truck before it was hit by the train, which was going 55 mph, having slowed from 69.8 mph after initiating emergency braking. The truck was pushed to one side, significantly damaging one side of the train’s cab car; the truck then caught fire. Many of the details of the collision became public when the NTSB released the accident docket investigation earlier this year [see “Metra train hit stalled truck …,” News Wire, May 18, 2023].

The driver, a 54-year-old male, said he had learned to drive trucks while in the military in Yugoslavia, but did not have a commercial driver’s license and told an NTSB interviewer that he had never had one. He was driving with an expired medical certificate, having failed to follow up after reporting a 2019 heart attack during his 2020 renewal exam. He also did not undergo required post-accident alcohol or drug testing because the trucking company did not have a program for such testing in place.

The truck’s owner, Del’s Moving, did not have written policies for safe vehicle operation, seat belt use, cell phone use, or other safety policies; had no training program and no program to document personnel records such as licenses and medical certificates; did not have a controlled substance or alcohol policy or testing program as required by federal regulations; and did not keep required vehicle maintenance records. The company eventually paid a $10,000 fine and submitted a corrective action plan to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to address the issues.

The NTSB’s analysis determined that the passenger’s death was from the impact of the truck with the side of the cab car and not with the ejection from the car, and that the impact likely exceeded the railcar’s sidewall strength requirements. The report notes the NTSB has previously recommended that the Federal Railroad Administration develop side-impact crashworthiness standards and update federal regulations accordingly; that recommendation is still open.

Other results of the incident saw the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, an industry group, update its recommended procedures for law-inforcement roadside inspections to require confirmation of a appropriate commercial driver’s license. Also, the city of Clarendon Hills addressed the drop-off at the grade crossing with temporary paving repairs; the road work at the crossing was completed June 26, 2022, and provides a roadway flush with the grade crossing.