Philadelphia crash follow-up story HERE.
Thoughts?
Jon 
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@KOOLjock1 posted:
Typical politics from that guy, i.e. the "prosecutor".
Question: Is thete that much zeal by the DA's, AG and local police to get those who are driving under the influence or distractions off I95 and all other roads.......?
In that article, the reporter said, “... Bostian had become confused about where he was and accelerated without realizing a curve was ahead of him...”
If you are the engineer on a train, it is your JOB to know where you are on your railroad at every moment. That excuse would not fly with me.
Ok so if the case moves on criminally and Bostian is found guilty criminally that opens the door to the civil suits. Where if found guilty in a criminal proceeding that judgment is prima facie evidence for the civil suits. Meaning its usually automatic win in civil court by the victims families; unless other or new evidence, not used in the criminal proceeding, shows otherwise..
This has become, in my opinion, a classic instance of prosecutorial abuse.
Curt
I agree with Judge Stabile, the evidence should be presented at trial, not at a pre-trial hearing. Judge McDermott’s refusal to concede that the commonwealth did indeed meet the Burden of Proof abrogates the right of the victims and their families to seek justice.
@juniata guy posted:This has become, in my opinion, a classic instance of prosecutorial abuse.
Curt
Agree 100%!!!!! That Pennsylvania Attorney General, Shapiro, is a REAL piece of work, and this is NOT the first time he has attempted this.
@Rich Melvin posted:In that article, the reporter said, “... Bostian had become confused about where he was and accelerated without realizing a curve was ahead of him...”
If you are the engineer on a train, it is your JOB to know where you are on your railroad at every moment. That excuse would not fly with me.
Yeah, I have had a hard time with this from the get go. The reporting on the engineer made him seem like a competent and even enthusiastic railroad employee prior to this terrible, fatal event. I never did hear whether or not they decided if there was a bullet or something else shot at the cab prior to the derailment, which would rattle anybody.
But for crying out loud if you are confused about your location you don't speed up. I have never been a fan of single man engine crews, but I can understand it for low speed freight moves. But high speed passenger traffic should have redundancy in the control system. If you don't have a PTC system, then a second qualified engineer in the cab would be the backup system.
I am not a legal expert by any means but certainly there seems to be a great deal of culpability here. If you were unsure of where you were in a car, sped up to 80 going around a 30 mph curve, and killed your passengers or others, saying "I didn't realize where I was. " would not hold up in court as you are in charge of that vehicle.
This whole thing still stinks. I still think the whole thing could have been avoided if the train would have been stopped at the first opportunity after that possible shot struck the engine. The engineer should have been swapped out right away for mental evaluation just like having struck a car.
Families are shattered, and ptc still isn't totally installed. (As far as I know)
Your analogy of a car driver speeding up captures the crux of the situation perfectly.
