The derailment of a train between the cities of Oxnard and Camarillo in Southern California on Feb. 24 would have caused more fatalities and injuries if the incident happened five years ago, according to commuter service officials.
Fortunately, some of the Metrolink cars involved in the train's crash with a truck had collision energy management technology equipped, which were implemented after a head-on collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train back in 2008 in Chatsworth, California resulted in 25 deaths.
The Metrolink cars in the accident were relatively new, which made the safety features of the cars work better in absorbing the impact in the incident.
"We can safely say that the technology worked," said Jeff Lustgarten, a spokesman for Metrolink, adding that the incident would have resulted into a much worse situation if not for the technology.
Lustgarten explained that the front end of the Metrolink car that collided with the truck has been designed to crumple, which dispersed the collision's energy. In addition, the cars have windows that can be easily removed by emergency personnel for the evacuation of passengers.
After an hour has passed since the crash, most, if not all, of the passengers were already evacuated from the train, with those suffering injuries treated on location or brought to hospitals.
While there were 30 people injured in the crash, there were no reported fatalities. However, four people are currently in critical condition.
The incident occurred before sunrise when a Ford F-450 produce truck driver allegedly thought the train tracks was the road and tried to get on them, instead of turning into a highway intersection nearby.
Unfortunately, the train was not equipped with the positive train control technology, which would have allowed the train driver to automatically stop the train upon spotting the wayward truck. Metrolink is planning to include the technology in its trains within months.
The 54-year-old driver of the produce truck was spotted some time after the incident in a road 1.6 miles away. A police officer attempted to speak to the driver but the man was disoriented, according to Oxnard Assistant Police Chief Jason Benites.
The driver was taken to the hospital, where he was questioned by the authorities. The driver was then arrested for suspicion of a felony hit and run, as the driver abandoned his vehicle and was found walking away from the scene of the accident.
The authorities are trying to determine whether the driver was intoxicated during the time of the crash.
