Red Line Accident Resonated, Even Outside of DC

As a Washingtonian, daily Metro rider and proponent of public transit, I was shocked and very distressed watching the reports of Metro's Red Line collision last week. At the time I was in New York about to leave the hotel for dinner. The local NYC news station broke from programming to report the incident, even before it aired on CNN and other cable news channels.

The night unfolded, and I found myself checking the news reports at the dinner table, trying to keep up with the tragic events miles away in DC. The local NY media, including print and television did a surprisingly thorough job of reporting on the incident, even featuring Fenty, some crash victims, and allowing the story to be told enough that I had a good idea of what was happening even though I was several metropolitan areas away. It probably wasn't the topic of first concern for New Yorkers, but it was right up there near the top of the 11:00 hour news.

Now over a week out, I can see that some nerves are still frayed, within Metro and those of customers as well. Until there is a definitive answer about the equipment problems, especially those within the trackbed itself, some may never feel completely comfortable riding the train. We can get over operator error, which does not appear to be a major cause for this incident. The driver of this train was likely failed by equipment, mechanics and design. But if the design is faulty, how do you reconcile that? That's a system wide problem. I'm not speculating that there is a system-wide failure, there is no evidence of that. But if there is a system-wide potential for failure, that's a problem for me.

Riding Metro is safe. I will continue to ride. The statistics show that travelling in a car is more dangerous than riding Metro or other subways. But the perception that a hidden fault could have caused this accident is troubling. Do I think this should be made into a political issue? No. Should Virginia, Maryland, the District governments agree to create a permanent funding stream for Metro? Yes. That has been true for years, well before this terrible collision took place. Peace to all the families and friends involved. Keep riding the trains and buses to work and play. And to Metro: Please, as best you can, find out what contributed to this collision and work as hard as you have ever worked to correct it.

Officials Seek Clues in Train Crash : New York Times

D.C. Metro Red Line Crash : Washington Post

DC Metro Crash: Who Will Die Next Because We Throw Money at Billionaries and Scrimp on the Public Good? : Alternet

Perplexing Crash in Adams Morgan

During my afternoon bike ride I came upon a scary, and then, quite odd site. On the way back to Mt Pleasant, I heard a LOUD crash and looked up to see an SUV on its side and several people running towards the wreckage. The crash was on Adams Mill, north of Lanier St. The SUV was on its side; I was looking at the undercarriage as I arrived. I sped around the crash to see if I could help the passengers out of the driver's side window, which looked to be the only way out of the vehicle. Luckily two guys had beat me to the scene and one of the passengers was already out and walking, dazed. I walked up to him and stupidly asked "Are you ok?" Then I asked "Is there anyone else in the car?" He kind of shook his head, and I looked over to the crash site to see another fellow climbing out and jumping to the ground. The smell of burnt oil and rubber was heavy and I wondered if real crashed cars exploded as easily as the one's on TV did.

Then something strange happened. The two passengers walked away. Not walked away to get perspective, or sit down, they walked away, like, AWAY. They were gone. In the fervor to make sure there weren't any other victims, the good samaritans who had gathered to help out, well, we were wondering what happened. I had called 911, and was on hold for a bit, then reported the accident. It was already on the books, according to the operator.

There was one major car casualty besides the SUV. A small Volkswagen looked to be totalled. It was parked on Adams Mill and the SUV t-boned it. Hard. Had I been 15-20 seconds ahead of myself I would have been pretty close to becoming a SUV-VW sandwich. Not to make light of the situation, but the what-ifs are always mind-boggling.

After the cavalry arrived (two ambulances, three police cruisers, fire truck) we started to realize what was happening. Fire fighters checked inside the rear door of the SUV, nothing. Luckily, no one in the parked cars which were damaged. The second fellow reappeared; in handcuffs. He had either stopped, or was apprehended a block away. Not clear if he returned to the scene by his own free will. He was put on a gurney (handcuffed to it) and taken away into an ambulance. Then we overheard one of the officers say that the licence plates on the SUV belonged, not to the SUV, but to a Dodge Plymouth. Something was afoot.

Then I went home.