Legal news for California personal injury plaintiffs.

California Muni train operator disables auto controls and blacks out before crash.

San Francisco, CA–A San Francisco train collision, which injured at least 44 people on Saturday afternoon, occurred seconds after the railway engineer disabled the train’s automatic controls, as reported by the Mercury News on Monday. Two light-rail trains crashed into one another at the West Portal Station boarding platform on Saturday and on Monday the president of the San Francisco transit workers union claimed the light rail operator suffers from a medical condition which caused him to black out moments before the train collision. San Francisco County area police officials state the train wreck took place at approximately 2:30 p.m. All train vehicle transportation traveling through the West Portal Station were terminated. Police detectives stated the San Francisco Municipal Railway, also known as Muni, L train struck the back of a Muni K train.

San Francisco area fire rescue crew and paramedics team arrived to help at the accident scene. Triage systems were put in place to treat the critically injured occupants of the trains. Emergency medical services (EMS) teams transported 44 people to local area hospitals for treatment by doctors and nurses. Police leaders claimed three victims suffered what seemed to be severe injuries. The driver of the L train, whose name has not been released, was one of the critically injured victims. The majority of passengers on the two trains were adults. Muni trains often transport afternoon shoppers on Saturdays. Authorities with the San Francisco Municipal Railway continue to cooperate with police detectives in the investigation to determine the cause of the collision. The impact of the crash caused the L train to sustain major frontal damage and also damaged the K train.

Legal news for California personal injury plaintiffs.