DC Metro Brake Failure
We’ve had a lot of problems with the D.C. subway system over the years. With the broken and sometimes collapsing escalators, the poor security, the indifferent staff and its malfunctioning and antiquated track safety system, there isn’t much about the Metro that bolsters our confidence.
People have been hurt, and some have even been killed. This isn’t what people should expect out of their public transportation system. While we understand that it takes time and money to fix these problems, and that money is particularly scarce these days, we believe that the Metro needs a complete safety overhaul, and it needs one quickly.
“Metro officials said Wednesday a friction ring came off a Blue Line train because of a “potential hub failure” in Tuesday’s incident that shut down service along two major rail lines for hours.
The transit agency has pulled 16 rail cars from service as part of its investigation. Those rail cars have 34 hubs that are the same as the one involved in Tuesday’s incident.” – Washington Post, 12/21/2011
If you aren’t sure what the friction ring is, it is a very important part of the braking system. It came off of a Blue Line train that was on the way to the Smithsonian station. The ring flew backwards into the tunnel and lodged itself between the right hand rail and the third electrical rail. Shortly afterwards, an Orange line train heading towards Vienna ran over the obstruction, which damaged that train.
It goes without saying that there were multiple failures here. The first was the failure of the friction ring. The second was the failure of the operator of the Blue Line train to warn the Orange Line train of the possible obstruction.
There are multiple questions that need to be answered. The first to ask is what is wrong with the friction discs? Is this a problem on that particular car only? Is it a system wide problem?
Next we need to ask about the standards of communication. While we know that the Metro trains move very fast, they certainly can’t move faster than a telephone call. Why wasn’t the dispatcher told about the obstruction on the track? Why wasn’t the driver of the Orange Line train told about the obstruction in front of him and his train full of passengers? The driver of the Blue Line train must have known that leaving something on the track was a possibility. There were apparently sparks flying from the side of the train. The only two options that can be considered here are that there was a communication breakdown between the Blue Line train, the dispatcher and the Orange Line train, or that there simply is no communication possible between the three parties. And if there is no communication possible, then why isn’t there?
If you want to know how Metro has performed over the years, the list of incidents is not pretty. There was a terrible crash that killed 9 people and injured countless more; there have been fires on the tracks, there have been random beatings where no police or security made an effort to help the victim, there have been escalator collapses, and now the brakes are falling off the trains.
Public transit is not supposed to be a risky proposition. You shouldn’t be putting your safety at risk when you get on the Metro, or even when you enter the facility and get on the escalator. Yet this is what Washingtonians do in the hundreds of thousands on a daily basis. We ride the Metro. It’s a risky proposition.
We’ve gone into this countless times, and yet will continue to keep bringing it up, as long as there continues to be dangerous failures with Metro.
Greenberg and Bederman is an accident law firm located in Silver Spring, Maryland. We are currently offering legal assistance to anyone who has been injured due to the carelessness or negligence of someone else, and that includes those who have been injured on the Metro. If you or a loved one in Northern Virgina, Maryland or Washington, D.C. has been hurt in an accident, contact Greenberg and Bederman for a free legal consultation today.
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