A recent history of MBTA safety failures caused by operators
The unmanned T train that sailed through several stations without a driver this week joins a series of trolley operator blunders in recent Boston history.
The driver-less Red Line trolley took off with 50 people aboard because the operator made “multiple errors,’’ Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday.
Though officials said it was an “isolated incident,’’ the runaway train was one of several serious operator-related safety violations in recent years for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the agency that runs Boston mass transit.
Trolley and bus drivers were found to be at fault for crashes in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2014. Violations included inappropriate cell phone use and sleep problems.
Here’s a look at recent MBTA safety failures aboard trolleys and buses:
A Green Line trolley operator in a rear-end crash had trouble sleeping.
The operator of a Green Line D trolley died when she crashed into the back of another trolley in Newton in May 2008. Ter’rese Edmonds, 24, had been working as an operator for less than a year. After a 14-month investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled that Edmonds likely suffered from a sleep disorder and had fallen into a “micro-sleep,’’ leading to the crash.
About a dozen people were injured in the crash, which caused both trains to derail.
A Green Line trolley operator crashed while sending a text message.
A total of 62 people were injured in May 2009 when a 24-year-old Green Line trolley operator slammed into the back of a trolley that was stopped at a red light near Government Center. The trolley operator was texting his girlfriend just before the crash, officials found, and failed to apply the brakes. That revelation led to the passage of strict rules prohibiting MBTA drivers from using any electronic devices on the job.
A sleep-deprived trolley operator rammed into another Green Line train.
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A Green Line trolley operator who had just worked an overnight shift at a second job crashed into a trolley at Boylston Street station in November 2012. A total of 37 people were sent to the hospital. The 46-year-old operator had an “accident-free’’ record and was about to receive a safety award, officials said.
He was fired after the crash for his “alarming disregard for customer and employee safety,’’ MBTA acting general manager Jonathan Davis said.
A Green Line trolley going at excessive speed crashed.
MBTA officials said human error was to blame for a March 2014 crash in which a Green Line trolley derailed and hit a tunnel wall between Kenmore and Fenway stations. At least 10 people were injured in the crash.
The MBTA fired the operator, Sydley Gardner, saying he had “failed to operate his trolley in compliance with speed and signal requirements.’’ Gardner had previously been fired by the MBTA in 2010 for failing to report a collision with a pedestrian, but an arbitrator ruled that he had to be rehired. After the crash, MBTA general manager Beverly Scott said the T would move to tighten its hiring requirements.
A bus driver on her cell phone drove through a guardrail at the edge of a bridge.
A Route 57 bus rammed through a guardrail on an overpass near Newton Corner in May 2014, leaving the vehicle dangling over the Massachusetts Turnpike for hours. Eight people were injured in the crash.
The driver initially told officials she had a sneezing attack, but surveillance video showed she was using her cell phone before the crash, according to the MBTA.
Gallery: Old photos of the MBTA
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