Vol. 75/No. 28      August 1, 2011

Six people died June 24 at the Highway 95 rail crossing east of Reno, Nevada, when a big rig crashed into Amtrak’s California Zephyr passenger train.

Among those killed were conductor Laurette Lee, 68, and Lawrence Valli, 43, the truck driver. Fourteen crew members and 204 passengers were on board. More than 150 were treated for injuries, including Amtrak workers Richard d’Alesandro and Loxie Sanders, who courageously pulled passengers out of the burning cars.

The highway speed limit is 70 mph and trains travel at nearly 80 mph. Flashing lights go on and a gate comes down across the road only 20-25 seconds before a train reaches the crossing. Amtrak engineer Ron Kaminkow applied the emergency brakes, but the train went half a mile before stopping. Valli’s truck skidded more than 100 yards before hitting the train.

Amtrak has filed suit against Valli’s employer, John Davis Trucking. Charging negligence, the rail bosses seek to deflect attention away from their unsafe operations.

The U.S. 95 crossing is one of thousands of dangerous ones that could be eliminated by constructing highway overpasses. Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder blamed crossing accidents on “inattentive driving” but said the agency would consider adjusting speed limits and warning lights, reported the Reno Gazette-Journal. He admitted that what the paper called a “more dramatic fix” would be an overpass. But “that would be costly,” he said.

The Federal Railway Administration, a body responsible for railroad safety, reports that some “900 deaths occur every year” at highway-rail crossings and along railroad rights-of-way. The U.S. Department of Transportation says there are “more than 3,000 highway-rail crossing incidents annually,” in which 300-400 people are killed.

Most recently a driver was killed and several people injured July 11 when an Amtrak train hit a tractor-trailer in North Berwick, Maine.

Many “incidents” are not reported. This includes a “near miss” at the Highway 95 crossing last September, according to the Gazette-Journal. Amtrak engineer Jack Rice was the engineer and Lee was a conductor when a truck driver narrowly avoided a crash by turning into the guard rails and tower beside the road.

Truckers are being pushed to drive longer hours without breaks. Rail workers face shrinking crew sizes and grueling, ever-changing schedules. Both face unsafe rail crossings and fake “regulatory” agencies, which take the greatest care in protecting the “safety” of the rail owners’ profits.

The murderous “productivity” drive we face today is part and parcel of the deepening crisis of capitalist rule, which puts profits before the needs—and the lives and limbs—of working people. Until workers, who are concerned about safety, begin to use our collective power to push back, this profit-driven system will bring more “accidents.” And the bosses will continue to blame us. Jim Altenberg is an Amtrak conductor and member of United Transportation Union Local 1732.
 
 
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