Muni driver may have caused crash on Saturday

A Muni train crashed at West Portal Station on Saturday and, according to The Chronicle, investigators were told by the operator that he blacked out just before it happened.

Muni Crash on Saturday

About 50 people were injured during Saturday’s crash when an outbound L-Taraval crashed into a K-Ingleside sitting in West Portal Station going about twice the normal speed. The National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation into the incident the next day. The L driver and three others were seriously hurt, while 43 other passengers sustained mild to moderate injuries. No one was killed and most were released from the hospital.

Who’s Fault Was the Muni Crash?

The brakes were the first focus when the investigation began but Ted Turpin, the lead federal investigator on the case, said that there didn’t appear to be any problems there.

However, it has come out that the L train was in manual mode as early as the tunnel before the station despite the fact that standard practice is to keep the train on automatic until entering the station. Had it been in automatic mode as long as necessary, the emergency shutdown mechanism could have stopped the L from hitting the K. In manual mode, it’s up to the driver to operate the brakes correctly.

Says Turpin: "Our data show that the L train switched from automatic to manual mode while stopped in the tunnel, then proceeded toward the platform. Twenty-four seconds later, the L train struck the K train."

Together with the California Public Utilities Commission and the SFPD and SFFD, the investigators are determining whether the crash was caused by a mechanical failure or driver error due to drug and alcohol influence, medical emergency or fatigue. We should have a definitive answer in…. about 12 to 18 months.

Muni is Safe

Though this is being touted as one of the worst accidents in Muni’s history, according to The Chronicle, it only goes to show just how safe the system is. Even with a driver potentially passed out at the wheel and a train going twice as fast as it should, no one was killed in a head-on collision.

Nathaniel Ford is the executive director of Municipal Transportation Agency. On Sunday, he said: "We are very sorry that this accident occurred, and we are fully cooperating with the NTSB, which is leading this investigation, and the California Public Utilities Commission. This is a safe system, and we are committed to making sure that we do everything we can to make sure something like this doesn't occur again."