By Darren Simon
Sunday's train collision in South Carolina (click here) was the fourth fatal incident involving an Amtrak train since the start of December.
The circumstances surrounding each crash vary; in two cases, vehicles appear to have driven around the lowered arm at a train crossing. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating three of the collisions, including Sunday's.
Here is what we know about the fatal incidents:
South Carolina
...Amtrak Train 91 was heading southbound and should have continued straight along the tracks, but the rail switch had been manually set to send the train onto the rail siding, where the CSX train was parked, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Sunday.
"Key to that investigation is learning why that switch was lined that way," Sumwalt said.
Sumwalt said the crash could have been avoided if positive train control or PTC technology, which can automatically slow down a speeding train, had been in place.
Virginia
An Amtrak train carrying Congressional members, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, to a Republican retreat in West Virginia struck a garbage truck near Charlottesville, Virginia on Wednesday, killing at least one person.
Investigators looking into the crash are focusing on the actions of the driver of the truck, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN....
...North Carolina
Eugene Lyons, a pastor, and his wife, Dorothy, were killed in Nash County, North Carolina, when an Amtrak train hit their SUV on January 14, CNN affiliate WNCN reported. Both were in their 60s. It appears the SUV had driven around the lowered crossing arm, WNCN reported.
Whitakers police told the station a witness confirmed Dorothy Lyons was driving. Police didn't know then why she drove around the crossing arm.
The couple couldn't get out of the way in time to avoid the train, which was traveling about 55 miles per hour, the station reported. Both died at the scene....
Washington state
The Amtrak Cascades Train 501 derailed near DuPont in Washington on December 18 and hurtled over an overpass onto Interstate 5, killing three people on its inaugural journey from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon.
The locomotive engineer told the NTSB the train was traveling at about 80 miles per hour as it passed milepost 15.5 on the route, the NTSB said. He told the investigators he had planned to start braking about a mile before an upcoming curve with a 30-mph speed restriction at milepost 19.8, the agency said.
The engineer said he saw mileposts 16 and 17, but did not recall seeing milepost 18 or the 30-mph advance speed sign two miles before the curve, the NTSB said....
Two of these accidents could have been prevented with positive train control, the other two should be a stronger awareness of the public to the laws reinforcing rail crossings.
Trains aren't going away anytime soon. In Ohio, near Toledo, there are many trains travelling through populated areas. As a matter of fact, the little town of Oregon, Ohio have three different train crossings. Yet, the incidents of these accidents are occurring where the occasional train comes through an area. The public needs to be reminded of the benevolence of trains and also the danger of disobeying laws that govern the crossings where trains, cars and trucks share the same space.
