AURORA, Colo. — A light rail vehicle was going more than three times the speed limit when it derailed on a curve in Aurora in January, ejecting a passenger whose leg was severed by the moving train, the Denver Post reports.
The Post report on the Jan. 28 derailment is based on a police report released to the newspaper on Tuesday.
The accident occurred at a 90-degree curve at the intersection of South Sable Boulevard and East Exposition Avenue. The curve has a 10-mph limit, but investigators determined the train entered the curve at 38 mph and had only slowed to 32 mph when it left the rails. The operator told investigators he applied the brakes but the train didn’t slow, and suggested snow on the track might have compromised operation of the brakes. But Aurora police detective Joseph Petrucelli wrote in his report that the brakes were “working correctly.”
The passenger, whose name was redacted in the report, was thrown through a door that opened as the train derailed; the train then rolled over her right leg, amputating her foot. Another passenger created a makeshift tourniquet until police arrived and the woman was transported to a nearby hospital.
Any PTC on that line, or are transit systems exempt ???
The FRA or the NTSB should hire that detective on the spot. Since he knew immediately what the problem was we don’t need a year long investigation to determine the cause. I didn’t know there were any police academies that taught railroad operations.
A train going 34 mph into a 10 mph curve is going to cause a lot of problems to say the least. Snow or not, the train should have slowed down in time for the curve. These LRVs have friction brakes, electromagnetic track brakes, and likely dynamic brakes as well. The dynamics could easily have slowed the train to the 10 mph needed, and then the friction brakes would have taken care of the rest. The track brakes are only used in an emergency, as they can cause significant damage to special track work. The snow might cause a slippery rail, but the automatic sanders should take care of that as well. I would put a lot of money on the driver speeding on purpose, as this routinely happens on other low speed curves throughout the rest of the system.
in·ureDictionary result for inure
/?’n(y)o?or/Submit
verb
past tense: inured; past participle: inured
1.
accustom (someone) to something, especially something unpleasant.
“these children have been inured to violence”
synonyms: harden, toughen, season, temper, condition; More
2.
LAW
come into operation; take effect.
“a release given to one of two joint contractors inures to the benefit of both”
Expect lawsuits to follow. I have two cousins who are attorneys.
I suspect the police detective may not actually have the qualifications to determine whether or not the brakes were “working correctly”. Rail vehicles behave differently and brake systems are not even close to those of road vehicles with which he may be familiar. Police have a difficult job, but sometimes are reluctant to admit they have insufficient expertise and ask for help. But likely speed was at least a contributing factor
Do the writers of these reports ever re-read what they have written to make certain that all words are spelled in such a way as to convey the desired sense?
I admit that I do not always catch mistakes my fingers have made, but I do try to make sense.