Recently we wrote about two accidents that have occurred on public transportation, on both bus or on a train. These accidents are particularly tragic because passengers do not have the typical safety mechanisms that keep them secured in an automobile. Sadly, on a bus or a train, there are no seat belts, and there are no airbags to keep people safe and secured.
The main way that brain injuries occur is by the head striking an object or otherwise the brain moving around within the skull. This can easily occur when passengers are not belted in to a vehicle, and when there are no airbags to soften the blow.
The bus crash I referred to earlier killed four people while transporting a college football team in North Carolina. 42 others on the bus were taken to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
The train crash in Hoboken, New Jersey made big news and left one dead and 114 injured. About a month earlier, a New Jersey Transit bus collision killed two people and sent 17 others to the hospital.
Bus accidents will produce a greater amount of brain injuries than almost any other kind of motor vehicle accident because it lacks the traditional safety measures such as safety belts. Buses also do not always give the opportunity for passengers to sit facing forward. When you are tossed side to side, your risk of injury is greater than when you are jostled forward and back.
The integrity of the entire New Jersey public transit system is being called into question following these two tragic accidents. Not much money is flowing into transportation, and it’s being squandered on other frivolous projects, according to the New York Post. Could the train accident have been prevented with an investment in an automatic stop mechanism?
The data recorder in the rear of the train at the time of the accident was not working, so officials are having a hard time deciding how fast the train was going at the time of the crash. CBS Evening News reported the train engineer didn’t remember the crash, probably due to a brain injury. They are trying to gain access to the other data recorder in the front of the train to find out more information about the crash.
Three passengers of the train sent notices of intent to sue New Jersey Transit Monday with dozens expected to follow in the coming weeks, according to NBC News.
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