An inattentive trucker with a history of speeding violations is operating a rig with 11 of 16 brakes worn out, and the ABS disabled. He crashes into the side of an Amtrak train, killing four passengers and a conductor.
It goes without saying that the NTSB is going to conclude that stricter regulation is needed for the hauling industry, right?
Ha, Ha! Just kidding:
Among other things, the panel also recommended the development of side-impact worthiness standards to minimum encroachment into rail cars and requiring passenger rail car doors to be designed to prevent fire and smoke from moving between cars — although they acknowledged fire doors would not have made a difference in this case.
No matter what the primary cause of a fatal railway accident may be, the NTSB recommendation is always going to be “build the railcars like tanks.” That is their mindset.
There was an accident in the UK where a cement truck fell off a bridge onto the rail line that was below, and ended up hitting the top and side of the train. I think the conclusion of the RAIB (the local equivalent of the NTSB) was that while this considerably exceeded the design load and minimum standards for the train roof, the train car’s structure did a pretty good job of not collapsing completely, and I don’t think anyone was killed in that incident. Most of their recommendations had to do with strengthening bridge parapets to stop trucks falling off them, and with the factors that cause the truck to strike the bridge parapet in the first place (a poorly signed sharp curve leading onto the bridge).
Blame the victim strikes again, even when the victim was a train. .