CHICAGO RAILROAD WORKER KILLED BY TRAIN
The papers reported another tragic railroad-related death this morning. Melinda Carter, a Chicago woman and CSX Corporation employee was struck and killed by a locomotive Friday evening.
Ms. Carter was conducting a routine switching operation when she was struck by a locomotive in CSX's rail yard in Riverdale. An experienced railroad worker, Ms. Carter was a member of CSX's safety committee. Officials continue to investigate the incident.
At this point, you might be asking yourself: What are railroads doing to prevent train accidents? The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the division of the United States Department of Transportation that regulates railroad track safety, lists positive train controls (PTC) as the leading technology in the prevention of train accidents. According to the FRA website, this technology can automatically control train speeds and movements when a locomotive engineer fails to obey stop signals, notify engineers when a car is on the tracks, and prevent casualties and injuries to railroad workers, among other things.
All railroads should begin installing and implementing such life-saving technology as soon as possible. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) (signed by the President on October 16, 2008, as Public Law 110-432) has mandated the widespread installation of PTC systems by December 2015.
