Debating Locomotive Engine Video Cameras: Review of Safety, Discipline and Their Use

Virginia (VA) Railroad Accident/FELA Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC

Railroad Injury/FELA

12/2/2009
Richard N. Shapiro
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Debating Locomotive Engine Video Cameras: Review of Safety, Discipline and Their Use

The controversy continues over engine mounted video and audio systems: safety or disciplinary or both?

The system used by Norfolk Southern and many railroads is called Railview and distributed by SAIC. The video camera is mounted above the engine cab window and points forward, and the hard drive computer unit is mounted in the cab with a locking device. Statistics show that about 50% of all railroad crossing accidents (about 3,000 per year) happen where there are no active warnings (no electronic lights or gates). I have heard gripes for a number of years from engineers and conductors who continue to question the railroad's use of video cameras in road engines.

injury, lawyer, camera, locomotive, FELA, railroad

While railroad management claims that the video cameras are mainly to protect the company and engineers if there is a railroad crossing crash, our law firm has learned of various cases where the railroads have used the video cameras or the audio as disciplinary tool against a worker, but the first case I heard about involved NS's claim that the worker had disabled the unit itself.

The railroad used the video camera and audio system to prove that a Norfolk Southern worker had vandalized or tampered with the video camera. They did this by showing that the camera stopped functioning during the actual shift that a worker was on and then they offered the evidence at the disciplinary hearing, as the unit logs if it is disabled and the company simply tracks the time and the crew on the engine.

The other controversy about the cameras is their use to support a disciplinary or rule violation against an engineer or conductor in case of a collision or accident. This is one reason that BLET and many engineers had grave concerns over the installation of these cameras in engines.

Yes, NS and other railroads are using the video cameras to show that the motorist is at fault in obvious crossing crashes, like where the driver goes around gates. This evidence can help the engineer and conductor is such cases.

I have been very active in addressing railroad crossing safety, and in one of my previous articles I wrote extensively about the fact that in previous years the railroads promoted the simple and cheap erection of stop signs at virtually every railroad crossing to make crossings safer. It seemed like a great idea-and cheap! In order to support the argument that stop signs at crossings made them safer, one of the major class one railroads agreed to provide information and help sponsor a formal study of this issue.

When five states crossing accident information was gathered, the alarming statistic clearly showed that erecting stop signs at a typical railroad crossing did not make them more safe for the crew or the motorists, but in actuality made the crossing more dangerous! If you have not heard about this major published study, please read the original article that I wrote--I personally interviewed the author of the study who confided in me that the railroads essentially pulled all sponsorship and affiliation with the study as soon as the surprising results were known and published in a major transportation journal. However soon after the study was released the railroad lobbyists stopped pushing for the stop sign fix at railroad crossings.

In my interview with the author of the study I asked him why he thought the stop signs caused more collisions, not less. He really did not have a concrete answer but we suspect that by having every vehicle stop at rural crossings, that the actual number of seconds that vehicles were positioned on the crossing at slow speeds increased statistically, and because of this increased time on track, that more collisions occurred during the course of a typical day, week or month.

My view is that this information clearly means that electronically lighted or gated railroad crossings--called "active warnings" of the train's approach--are the gold standard for preventing railroad crossing accidents and deaths. In the future, I believe that positive train control and GPS technology should link any train approach with any dangerous crossing so that at the minimum, active warning lights will illuminate at any crossing well in advance of the approach of the locomotive engine and the train. Lighted crossings offer a real and active warning to a motorist, unlike a static stop sign or cross buck. When a motorist ignores a properly lighting active warning light, the motorist usually has no excuse for causing a collision at a railroad crossing.

Labels: Attorney crossing death crossings engine cameras injury lights and gates locomotive psychological railroad crossing railview SAIC Shapiro stop signs stop signs at crossings video video cam

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have handled hundreds of Federal Employers' Liability Act claims for railroad workers hurt or made ill while doing their rail jobs. We also have represented many people injured in train accidents. Please take a few moments to review our railroad injury case results. Our primary offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008, and have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill. Our attorneys have even been included in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009.

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Virginia Beach, VA Personal Injury Attorneys
Virginia (VA) Personal Injury Lawyers
Specializing in Virginia Wrongful Death & Injury Law

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Debating Locomotive Engine Video Cameras: Review of Safety, Discipline and Their Use

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