TEXTING TROLLEY OPERATOR CAUSES COLLISION
A trolley conductor texting his girlfriend while operating the trolley underground in Boston Friday night collided with another trolley, injuring 49 people on board. The trolley slammed into the rear of another which was stopped at a red signal.
The conductor admitted to police that he had been texting with his girlfriend prior to the collision. Daniel Grabauskas, general manager of the Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority, said the conductor told detectives that, when he looked up from text messaging, "it was too late as he applied the brake and the train struck the other trolley." Grabauskas added that the 24 year old conductor, who has worked for the MBTA for more than two years, will probably be fired. In a more recent development, the MBTA has banned the possession of cell phones by trolley operators while they are on duty.
This story once again proves that texting while driving, be it a trolley or a car, is incredibly dangerous. Nearly fifty people were injured because of one person’s irresponsible inattentiveness. It is absolutely unacceptable that a person charged with responsibly transporting commuters could be so reckless with his duties.
Recent studies have concluded that texting while driving is actually MORE dangerous than driving drunk. The Transport Research Laboratory in the U.K. found that when subjects were text messaging and driving at the same time, reaction speed was reduced by 35 percent, thereby increasing the likelihood of an incident. Those that were driving and drinking within the legal limit only suffered a 12 percent loss of reaction speed, and those that were driving under the influence of marijuana had their reaction speed reduced by 21 percent, 14 percent lower than while driving and texting. Another startling statistic: According to the study, those that were texting and driving reduced their steering ability by 91 percent. Nick Reed, lead researcher for the study, said: “This demonstrates how dangerous it is to drive and text. When texting, drivers are distracted by taking their hand off the wheel to use their phone, by trying to read small text on the phone display and by thinking about how to write their message. This combination of factors resulted in impairments to reaction time and vehicle control that place the driver at greater risk than having consumed alcohol to the legal limit for driving.”
I urge you to keep your phone out of reach when you drive. Driving and texting is a risky combination. Do everyone a favor by waiting until reaching your destination to send that text.
