Texting Blamed In Boston Trolley Crash

(CBS/AP)  The head of the Boston-area transit authority said Saturday he'll ban all train and bus operators from even carrying cell phones on board after a trolley driver told police he was texting his girlfriend before a collision Friday.

About 50 people were hurt in the underground crash in downtown Boston, though none of the injuries was life-threatening. All injured passengers that were taken to hospitals have been treated and released.

The National Transportation Security Board is investigating the crash, reports CBS station WBZ in Boston.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority already bans operators from using cell phones and recently ran an internal ad campaign featuring a poster of an open cell phone that warned employees not to drive "under the influence."

The MBTA warned drivers a year ago against text messaging or any cell phone use while they are operating a train, WBZ reports.

But general manager Daniel Grabauskas said Saturday the temptation obviously was too great for some.

"I want to remove any temptation by one or two people stupid enough to think a moment of convenience is worth the lives of the people they're transporting," he said. "I'm not going to wait for someone to die to institute a policy whose time I think has come."

Grabauskas said the new ban would apply to anyone working on board a train or bus. He said he hopes to have the policy in place within a week.

The proposal won quick support from Steve MacDougall, president and business agent of the Boston Carmen's Union, Local 589, which represents most of the MBTA's roughly 6,000 employees

MacDougall said it was clear that Friday's accident could have been "far, far worse than it was."

He said he expects some resistance to the policy from union members who believe they're being punished for the irresponsibility of a single employee. But he said he believes most workers eventually will embrace the change.

"When it comes to public safety and operating public transportation vehicles, a line has to be drawn," he said.

Watch an interview with MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas from CBS Station WBZ in Boston:

Local Video from WBZ in Boston

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State Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr., chairman of the MBTA Board of Directors, said accidents like Friday's have become too common, citing a train accident last year in California in which 25 people were killed. An engineer involved in that crash was found to have sent and received dozens of text messages, including one sent 22 seconds before the crash.

Aloisi said he doesn't know of any policy nationwide as tough as what the MBTA is planning.

Friday's accident happened about 7:20 p.m. in a tunnel between the Green Line's Park Street and Government Center stations. A two-car train was stopped at a red signal, waiting to enter Park Station, when it was hit by another two-car train.

About 100 people were evacuated, including some who had to be extracted from the trains, and 49 were taken to area hospitals. The worst injury was a broken wrist suffered by the 24-year-old operator whom officials say admitted to police that he was sending a text message at the time of the crash.

Watch coverage of the crash from CBS Station WBZ in Boston:

Local Video from WBZ in Boston

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While the MBTA has not released the name of the trolley driver, WBZ sources say the 24 year old is Aiden Quinn of Attleboro, a 22-month employee with the MBTA.

MacDougall said the conductor had no history of problems or complaints during his time with the MBTA. Grabauskas said the driver would be fired assuming the preliminary findings of the investigation are borne out.

"I can tell you it's difficult to contain my outrage at hearing this," Grabauskas said.

Criminal charges against the driver are being considered by the transit police and the local district attorney's office, Grabauskas said.

The Green Line remained closed Saturday as a National Transportation Safety Board team investigated the scene. Grabauskas said he hoped the line would be running by day's end Saturday.

The current MBTA policy increases penalties for workers each time they're caught using cell phones on board. Under the new one, a worker would be fired the first time he or she carried a cell phone on board. Workers have been allowed to use cell phones off the trains and buses while between trips.

Buses are equipped with global positioning systems in case the radios fail, and most trolley riders have cell phones, which could be a backup if a radio malfunctions on a train, Grabauskas said. The MBTA also has a system that allows family members to inform employees of problems at home and the MBTA to send new drivers, without using cell phones.

Grabauskas said Friday's accident leaves no doubt the change is needed.

"There's no rationale, no excuse for this," he said.

[tjbreck]

I lost my grandson this last November 16th, he was texting while driving and swearved off the road and hit a tree stump which flipped his car and he was thrown out and killed because his car landed on him.

I would love to contact Hurd Family to join them in this campaign. We have been trying to get something done in Indiana & Illinois which is where our grandson was killed. Please contact us.

[Dgunner]

CBS SHOULS RUN THIS ANOTHER WEEK. JUST IN CASE NO ONE KNOWS BY NOW THE DRIVER WAS TEXTING. WHEN THEY RUN A FILLER STORY ? THEY RUN IT FOR A MONTH.

[ToolMangler1]

And people use to go ballistic over smoking in the workplace, (I was one of them) This (texting) beats smoking to pieces.

[cdegolier]

It is time to start having employees check the cell phones at the door.

[klewt]

To DaVicar5
Since these trolleys "practically drive themselves" are you suggesting that this one was suicidal? What an idiot!

[DaVicar5]

I am certain that the Boston authorities are over-reacting to this issue.
I don't see how sending a message to your girlfriend could be a distraction - besides, those trolleys practically drive themselves. The driver is really there to just clean up the litter around the cab, and hand out those little pamphlets with the schedule on them.

[stn_sage]

I don't find this surprising in the least!

Locally, I see people driving through or rolling through stop signs, with 'kids onboard' , while talking on portable phones or punching buttons on handheld devices (texting) almost every day!

I would bet---literally---thousands of people have been killed in the U.S. over the last few years---due to the inattention that their use causes in the driver!

The use of portable phones and/or texting devices should be exclusively restricted to emergency personnel and then ONLY while engaged in an emergency situation! Period.

The federal government should pass such a basic, simplistic law---as a matter of safety and common sense! It DOESN'T have to be uber-complicated! Just a basic law that says it's forbidden to do, with the resulting penalties for violating it!

People can gossip, make appointments, and talk to friends and business associates---LATER---when they're parked and home! Or, pull over to the side of the road, park safely, and then make their call---if it's that necessary!

if they talk less---while in motion---they'll reduce their chances of hurting someone else or getting killed themselves while on the road!

[tmittelstaed]

"...Arrogant p-r-i-c-k-s like you, tmittelstaed, are what's wrong with this country! "I'm super important, I have to be available 24/7, don't I sound important? Who cares about any of you NOT important people?..."---Posted by bornin1952

Well, for starters since if you passed me on the road while I was on the cell you wouldn't know it since I use a hands-free setup, I hardly think that I'm using a cell to pretend that I'm super-important. And when I do get a call if I'm in the middle of a conversation with someone, I don't answer it. I wait until a pause in the conversation and then look at the phone to see who called and I will only excuse myself and call them back if it's someone on a very short list of people.

I'm really sorry that people like you seem to think that nobody can be a critical key person, but I would bet you would change your tune quick if you were in recovery after surgery and something went wrong and they had to get a hold of your surgeon immediately. I also think that people like you are usually the ones who start screaming in the store when you have waited in the checkout line and just when you go to pay, all the visa machines go offline, and the store clerk can't take your plastic without it.

Understand that in reality it's not me, personally who is the key person. It's the job I'm filling that's the key position. I just become key when I'm on call for it. 24x7 doesn't mean 24x7x365days a year, but I guess it's a waste of time to explain things like this to people like you.

[tmittelstaed]

"...Any employer who requires an employee to answer a cell phone while driving 60+ miles per hour on a free way should not be in a management position. I encourage you, tmittelstaed, and anyone else out there with a boss who is such a jerk, to find a new job with a boss who is actually intelligent enough to care about your safety and the safety of other drivers...."---Posted by emh1701

And you seriously think that there is any difference between a hands-free cell phone setup in a car, and a police cruiser with a radio going all of the time the cruiser is in service? Really!

CB Radios have been out for what, 30 years, and did people get all wrought up over them? No. Now, explain the difference.

A cell phone is no more dangerous in a car than a CB radio, or a police radio, or a stereo, or an ipod plugged into a stereo. These things can be used safely or not, it depends on the driver and how he chooses to use them. There's plenty of accidents out there that are on record as being caused by the driver reaching for a dropped CD or cassette tape in congested traffic conditions.

There has been a trend in recent years to attempt to make the act of driving something that any moron can do. Cars nowadays don't even have a cable from the accellerator to the throttle anymore, they are now completely drive-by-wire, with a computer looking at the gas pedal and deciding just out much to open the throttle. Eventually they will get the cars to the point that the driver merely has the simularicum of control but the computer is actually doing the driving.

How about toughening the driving tests like the one poster said. Put a would-be driver in a simulator and throw a variety of road conditions at him. If he can deal with those and take a cell call without a problem, then put a hands-free radio endorsement on his license, just like a motorcycle endorsement. If he can't, then don't issue him a license with a cell endorsement.

Oh, but we can't do that, we have to allow people who have no driving skills on the road, because to do otherwise would be un-american!

Get real!

[liselle3]

Exactly how dumb do you have to be to text message while driving a motorized vehicle or mass transit?