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Amtrak Installing Cameras To Watch Train Engineers
An anonymous reader writes: In the aftermath of the derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago, the company has caved to demands that it install video cameras to monitor and record the actions of the engineers driving their trains. The National Transportation Safety Board has been recommending such cameras for the past five years. Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman says the cameras will improve train safety, though the engineers' union disagrees. In 2013, the union's president said, "Installation of cameras will provide the public nothing more than a false sense of security. More than a century of research establishes that monitoring workers actually reduces the ability to perform complex tasks, such as operating a train, because of the distractive effect."
While I'm not fully aware of the details of this story, it really seems to me that they are only looking to put the blame on the weakest side, which is obviously the workers. Even if the guy did screw up, it would be ridiculous to think a camera would be capable of preventing an accident. Where are the technical failsafes to limit the train's speed? Guess true security updates have been eaten by their desire for profit and instead been replaced with cheap cameras so they can say "oh no, we were watching the guy but he was a terrorist who shut down the camera" or any other crap to get their fat a$$es out of the way.
"I decided I could write something better than everything out there in two weeks. And I was right." - Linus Torvalds
You are aware that plenty of people are monitored for their entire shift in much less safety critical jobs, like bank tellers, grocery or retail store cashiers, dock workers, etc, yes? As to the speed being controlled by computer, they've been working on that for some time, but apparently the radio network to convey all the necessary information to the control box is massively behind schedule.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Ah, there it is. The obligatory US bash. Got it in early, too.
Why do you care?
It's sad that the rest of the world still feels the need to match us while acting like we are crap.
No, you don't. You see what we choose to show you, and you react in precisely the way we want and expect you to react. And you help us by telling yourself that it's your idea.
Dunno - it's pretty hard to account for why the dude was doing 100+ mph on a 50mph curve.
Not saying it's his fault, but at least the camera would have absolved/proven any culpability on his part almost immediately.
Now normally, cameras would be a bad idea IMHO, but this is a public service operated by public funds.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
No, cameras are never a bad idea for public-service employees. A good example of this is bus drivers. All the public buses I've taken in recent years had cameras on board, showing both the drivers and the passengers, along with signs warning that assaulting a bus driver carries a stiff prison sentence. The cameras are ostensibly to protect the drivers from bad passengers, but they obviously can also be used to see what the driver was doing in case of a crash, which is a good thing.
There isn't much difference between a train driver and a bus driver, except that the train driver doesn't have to interact with the public/passengers. There's no good reason at all to not have their activities recorded on camera while they're working.
I don't here many saying it's not *possible* only that it is not practical and cost effective.
Sure, you want automated trains, we can do that, but remember that our rail road system is a patch work of private and public companies which runs on a regulation scheme that was largely fleshed out before the turn of the 20th century (over 100 years ago). Plus, the incentive for automation by the rail roads would be largely cost, unless the regulations are forcing them into it. The salaries of the engineer and conductor on a train are a pittance compared to the total operating costs of the train, so there is little incentive to automate. Just keep the human in the loop, it's cheaper in the short term. Rail Roads run on razor thin margins... So profit today is very important.
The reason we are having this "camera" discussion is more about political points than actually trying to help the system get safer. Cameras won't help anything, except the political fortunes of those suggesting them. The vast majority of fatal accidents involving trains will never be prevented by cameras OR automation because they have to do with vehicles being on the tracks at crossings when the train arrives. You might have great video of the accident, or get the breaks applied a few milliseconds sooner with automation, but neither will prevent people getting killed..
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Their concern is more to do with how people react under stressful situations when snap decisions are required. Knowing that your every move is being recorded and will be intensely scrutinized after the fact can alter those decisions.
That's a cop-out if I've ever heard one. Airline pilots have everything they say and every interaction with the controls recorded on every flight and somehow they manage to execute their duties quite well even in crash situations. If a train engineer is doing something they aren't supposed to be doing then they should damn well expect to get a spanking for it. Any equivocation on this point is simply trying to weasel out of being responsible for their actions.
It is sad how other countries know so little about the U.S. That they take the behavior of a small minority of people in a couple of states and try to define the entire nation by it.
You do realize there are 50 whole states in the union, right?
It is sad how other countries know so little about the U.S. That they take the behavior of a small minority of people in a couple of states and try to define the entire nation by it.
Yeah, just like the small minority of Muslims who burn American Flags.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.