Back in 2008, California was the site of a train crash that claimed the lives of 25 individuals. At that time, the National Transportation Safety Board investigated the matter and sought to determine how such accidents could be prevented in the future. The solution they came up with involved installing video cameras on the back and front of the trains.
The hope was that such a system would minimize the number of crashes that would take place on the tracks and that it would give rail companies the ability to evaluate engineers, making sure they were acting in the safest manner possible.
Cut to 2013, and New York is reeling from a train accident that left 67 people with injuries and four people dead. Although it’s been five years since the NTSB’s camera recommendation arrived, rail companies have still not been compelled to adopt such a system, something that riles Connecticut and New York senators in the wake of the most recent crash.
They are calling upon the Federal Railroad Administration to pass a rule making such cameras mandatory for trains. One Senator pointed out that doing so would allow for more accountability, as the operators’ every move would be recorded. He also said that installing these cameras would be cost-effective. The other Senator expressed perplexity as to why these recommendations still have not been acted upon by the FRA.