Passenger Trains > Train 11

I just got this Twitter update from Metrolink:
Amtrak Train 11 struck a person at Chatsworth station. Emergency personnel are on scene. No Metrolink trains are affected by this incident 4 min

Juan Cornejo
Hacienda Heights, CA

I am on the last car of this 15 car train on the Silver Lariat.
At the depot full breaks---over the radio--- I just hit a woman in the X-ing.
She did not make it.
It is now 22:00 and no sign of the train moving.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/10 22:03 by 12Gauge.

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Woman struck, killed by Amtrak train
December 29, 2010 | 9:47 pm

A woman was struck and killed Wednesday evening by an Amtrak train in Chatsworth, authorities said.

The incident was reported at 8:11 p.m. in the 21700 block of West Lassen Street, said Devin Gales, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The woman, whose identity has not been released, was dead by the time paramedics arrived, Gales said.

No one on the train was reported injured, he said, and the LAPD was starting an investigation into the woman’s death.

Juan Cornejo
Hacienda Heights, CA

I know speculation is always bad, but I am wondering....#11 doesn't stop at Chatsworth...perhaps she assumed(never a good thing0, that #11 was going to stop at the station? In any event, this is sad.

Ironic thing is I was thinking that 11 was on time tonight. Tragic.

Thoughts and prayers to the victim's family and to the crew.

johnnyremixx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Crime | Government | Medical marijuana | Education
> | Prop 8 | Traffic | Westside
> L.A. NOW
> Southern California -- this just in
>
> « Previous | L.A. NOW Home

If this isn't a profound statement about what Southern California is about, I don't know what is.


Sorry to hijack your thread.

I think another profound statement (or rather question) is why it took them 5 hours 17 minutes to complete the investigation? Maybe a rail passenger bill of rights is needed here? I can't for the life of me understand why, when someone (by inference on the radio) wasn't a victim of foul play, was thrown clear of the train, whole, and dead on the scene,, presumably with a cab cam video of the whole thing, it should take 5+ hours? That's a new record...

The real victims here are the several hundred passengers aboard the train. Sorry for the deceased, but she died as a result of her own actions, failing to heed the warning lights at the pedestrian crossing at the station.

calzephyr48 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think another profound statement (or rather
> question) is why it took them 5 hours 17 minutes
> to complete the investigation? Maybe a rail
> passenger bill of rights is needed here? I can't
> for the life of me understand why, when someone
> (by inference on the radio) wasn't a victim of
> foul play, was thrown clear of the train, whole,
> and dead on the scene,, presumably with a cab cam
> video of the whole thing, it should take 5+ hours?
> That's a new record...
>
> The real victims here are the several hundred
> passengers aboard the train. Sorry for the
> deceased, but she died as a result of her own
> actions, failing to heed the warning lights at the
> pedestrian crossing at the station.

I wholeheartedly agree, but apparently the medical examiners' offices in many places feel otherwise. Use the "search" function for prior discussion about this subject, because it seems to come up every time a pedestrian gets hit by a train, especially in California.

With the rare exception of someone being pushed off a platform or other, similar involvement of a third party, I struggle to think of a way in which anyone other than the "victim" in these sorts of cases is responsible for his or her own safety. But the investigations take hours to complete and the unwitting bystanders get stuck.

Maybe investigations can be speeded up.
What we need is a VIP to be held up in one of these affairs.

Sorry, not a realistic expectation, VIPs travel in their executive jets.

I was on a commuter train in New Jersey about twenty five years ago that hit a trespasser. He died on the scene.

As I recall, we were held for about an hour, and then the train went on its way.

That seems much more reasonable, and like something people would understand in light of the tragedy.

It depends on how fast the coroner can get there. Here in LA, they are kind of busy, and they don't get red lights and a siren.

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website

Let's see now... This 'investigation' had two paramedic units, consisting of three engines and their crews apiece, there for the whole time. For one dead woman and no injuries on the train (they went through and checked)? At least a dozen police cars, and oh, yes, the Coroner, who, by the way, left the scene without informing people that he was done. Surely there was a ranking officer on the scene? What was he/she doing? Seems to me that person should be trailing the Coroner (if the coroner is in charge of the investigation) like a puppy... If the police have charge, then how did the ranking officer let the coroner leave without getting the OK to release the train?

Security video is reported to have shown that the woman was standing on the edge of the platform with her back to the tracks, talking on her cell phone.

During the investigation, the police were seen to be 'debriefing' over donuts that someone had thoughtfully brought. I still fail to understand why a dozen cops needed to be deployed to the scene for 5 hours? It's heartening to know that some of them needed to ask a person on the train (I know the person they asked!) for directions to the station, too. We've got some serious issues here, folks...

Now people, REALLY! Did we need all that??? How long does it take to establish where the point of impact was, where the train stopped, and where the deceased was, and was doing, when hit? Why couldn't the video have been copied on the spot and handed to the authority in charge? In the absence of video evidence, usually the ONLY witness is the engineer.

calzephyr48 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let's see now... This 'investigation' had two
> paramedic units, consisting of three engines and
> their crews apiece, there for the whole time. For
> one dead woman and no injuries on the train (they
> went through and checked)? At least a dozen
> police cars, and oh, yes, the Coroner, who, by the
> way, left the scene without informing people that
> he was done. Surely there was a ranking officer
> on the scene? What was he/she doing? Seems to me
> that person should be trailing the Coroner (if the
> coroner is in charge of the investigation) like a
> puppy... If the police have charge, then how did
> the ranking officer let the coroner leave without
> getting the OK to release the train?
>
> Security video is reported to have shown that the
> woman was standing on the edge of the platform
> with her back to the tracks, talking on her cell
> phone.
>
> During the investigation, the police were seen to
> be 'debriefing' over donuts that someone had
> thoughtfully brought. I still fail to understand
> why a dozen cops needed to be deployed to the
> scene for 5 hours? It's heartening to know that
> some of them needed to ask a person on the train
> (I know the person they asked!) for directions to
> the station, too. We've got some serious issues
> here, folks...
>
> Now people, REALLY! Did we need all that??? How
> long does it take to establish where the point of
> impact was, where the train stopped, and where the
> deceased was, and was doing, when hit? Why
> couldn't the video have been copied on the spot
> and handed to the authority in charge? In the
> absence of video evidence, usually the ONLY
> witness is the engineer.

While there is no doubt this is a responder's cluster f, it sounds as if you have the classic failure of variuos jurisdictions to communicate along with the "whose in charge" "mine is bigger than yours" differences of opinion among the responding agencies, and most likely further complicated by their radio frequencies not being compatible. There has been some discussion on other groups of a similar cluster f among the responders to the Roseville Galleria fire last fall. Apparently the fire chief has already resigned and might be followed by the police chief, all because someone wanted to play "whose in charge" one upmanship while the place burned.
Had the same fatality occured in another town, the response may have been totally different and taken up much less time. I do know that for whatever reason, the coronor has to pronounce and etc and often the coroner can't get there right away, but as to multiple cops, ambulances and etc, that seems ridiculous. However, all those ambulances can bill the city for "standby", soooo-----------------:-)
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA