Council Member Andrew Cohen, Congressman Eliot Engel, State Senator Jeff
Klein and Assemblyman Dinowitz have called on Metro-North to adopt the
recommendations put forward
by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the aftermath of
the Metro-North train derailment in Spuyten Duyvil this past December.
Last
week, NTSB’s Chairwoman Deborah Hersman released a five-page
preliminary report which reviewed the accident where four people died
and dozens of others were injured. The recommendations
include installing permanent speed restriction signage to alert
operating crews of areas where any significant decrease in speed exists
and installing inward and outward facing cameras and audio recorders to
ensure that crews are operating in accordance with
appropriate regulations and procedures. According to the NTSB’s report
the recorded images and sounds should be reviewed routinely to identify
unsafe behaviors and allow for corrective practices to be implemented
before accidents occur.
Council
Member Andrew Cohen said, “I support the recommendations put forth by
Chairwoman Hersman as this is a good first step in improving safety with
our mass transit. I urge Metro-North
to implement these recommendations immediately to help protect all
commuters.”
Congressman Eliot Engel said, “The Metro-North
train derailment was a tragedy that must never be repeated. The
recommendations from National Transportation Safety Board are simple,
straight-forward and should be implemented without delay.
The NTSB report also notes that inward-facing image recorders may be
able to detect and address worker fatigue. Metro-North should further
explore this potential.”
Senator
Jeff Klein said, "In the wake of the devastating Metro-North train
derailment in Spuyten Duyvil late last year, it is clear new safeguards
need to be adopted to prevent such a horrific event like this from
happening again. The recommendations suggested by the National
Transportation Safety Board are essential steps in keeping operators,
riders and members of our local communities safer. I commend
the NTSB for submitting their recommendations and look forward to
working together to implement additional safety measures they identify
during their investigation."
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said, "The horrible accident that took place December 1st, 2013 was both tragic and avoidable. It is crucial that we ensure that such an accident never takes place again, either at Spuyten Duyvil or any place else. The recommendations of NTSB should be implemented immediately. People who take any form of mass transit should never be in fear of injury or loss of life".
