NJ TRANSIT To Vote On Plan For Cameras Monitoring Train Crews
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- The NJ TRANSIT Board will vote next week on a multi-million dollar contract to put new cameras on its trains.
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, the $7 million plan would install inward-facing video cameras, recording the actions of NJ TRANSIT crew members at the controls of the trains.
CBS News Transportation Safety Analyst Mark Rosenker, former head of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the cameras will provide crucial information should something go wrong.
"It will be a significant assistance to understand in the event of any incident or accident what the engineer was doing -- was he distracted some way, shape or form?" Rosenker said.
The NJ TRANSIT plan comes in the wake of the deadly Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia. That train did not have inward cameras, and engineer Brandon Bostian told investigators he could not remember what happened.
The NTSB has long recommended such recording devices to aid their investigations.
NJ TRANSIT already has outward facing cameras on its trains.