A trolley driver causes mayhem while texting his GF
He's really going to get it because just last year we had an exact same accident with a train operator that injured many and killed one due to texting.
An MBTA trolley operator was sending a text message to his girl-friend when he rear-ended a trolley last night in a crash that injured dozens of passengers and created a surreal scene as emergency workers set up a makeshift emergency area next to a circus tent before taking the wounded to hospitals.
"It's difficult for me to contain my outrage," said Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA, who learned about the text message sent by a 24-year-old operator soon after the crash near Government Center.
None of the 49 injuries was considered life-threatening, officials said. But the passengers were startled, screaming, and more than a few were bloodied when the collision occurred without warning at 7:18 p.m.
One trolley had stopped at a red light in a tunnel, headed toward Park Street, and was struck from behind by the second one. The speed of the moving trolley was not known.
The operator, who had been on the job 22 months, was text-messaging his girlfriend, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The unidentified driver was looking down at his phone and could not apply the brakes quickly enough when he looked up and saw the trolley in front of him, Grabauskas said.
He faces the potential for criminal charges and probably will be fired, Grabauskas said.
"We let our employees know there is a zero-tolerance policy for any type of electronic device," Grabauskas said.
The moving Green Line trolley hit with enough force to jolt the second trolley about 100 feet into the tunnel toward Park Street Station. Both trolleys derailed and sustained significant damage at the point of impact.
Officials described a chaotic scene, with metal strewn about, passengers in disarray, and some people who had to be removed from under twisted metal using saws and excavation equipment. Each of the trolleys, which were headed westbound, contained two cars.
The operator of the moving trolley, who admitted to MBTA police that he was texting and turned over his phone, suffered a broken wrist and was in stable condition at Massachusetts General Hospital, officials said. He had no known disciplinary history during his relatively short tenure with the T, officials said.
"There was just noise and the whole thing went black," said Judy Brenner, a 41-year-old Brookline resident who was heading home on the rear trolley from her job at an executive search firm. "Everyone fell on top of each other."
Several of the passengers were on their way to the Red Sox game. Children in blue baseball jerseys were seen on stretchers, one with a bandage around his head.
Edmundo Silva, a 49-year-old from Medford, was sitting in the front trolley. "There was a big jump, jump, jump," he said, emphatically pounding his fist into his palm.Continued...
He's really going to get it because just last year we had an exact same accident with a train operator that injured many and killed one due to texting.
An MBTA trolley operator was sending a text message to his girl-friend when he rear-ended a trolley last night in a crash that injured dozens of passengers and created a surreal scene as emergency workers set up a makeshift emergency area next to a circus tent before taking the wounded to hospitals.
"It's difficult for me to contain my outrage," said Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA, who learned about the text message sent by a 24-year-old operator soon after the crash near Government Center.
None of the 49 injuries was considered life-threatening, officials said. But the passengers were startled, screaming, and more than a few were bloodied when the collision occurred without warning at 7:18 p.m.
One trolley had stopped at a red light in a tunnel, headed toward Park Street, and was struck from behind by the second one. The speed of the moving trolley was not known.
The operator, who had been on the job 22 months, was text-messaging his girlfriend, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The unidentified driver was looking down at his phone and could not apply the brakes quickly enough when he looked up and saw the trolley in front of him, Grabauskas said.
He faces the potential for criminal charges and probably will be fired, Grabauskas said.
"We let our employees know there is a zero-tolerance policy for any type of electronic device," Grabauskas said.
The moving Green Line trolley hit with enough force to jolt the second trolley about 100 feet into the tunnel toward Park Street Station. Both trolleys derailed and sustained significant damage at the point of impact.
Officials described a chaotic scene, with metal strewn about, passengers in disarray, and some people who had to be removed from under twisted metal using saws and excavation equipment. Each of the trolleys, which were headed westbound, contained two cars.
The operator of the moving trolley, who admitted to MBTA police that he was texting and turned over his phone, suffered a broken wrist and was in stable condition at Massachusetts General Hospital, officials said. He had no known disciplinary history during his relatively short tenure with the T, officials said.
"There was just noise and the whole thing went black," said Judy Brenner, a 41-year-old Brookline resident who was heading home on the rear trolley from her job at an executive search firm. "Everyone fell on top of each other."
Several of the passengers were on their way to the Red Sox game. Children in blue baseball jerseys were seen on stretchers, one with a bandage around his head.
Edmundo Silva, a 49-year-old from Medford, was sitting in the front trolley. "There was a big jump, jump, jump," he said, emphatically pounding his fist into his palm.Continued...
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