Comments about ‘Serious injury in downtown crash Tuesday morning: 8th TRAX vs. car collision for 2012’

Maybe if UTA goes back to 'affordable' public transportation it will stop the negative actions that have been occurring in 2012. Stop scamming the people who need your help UTA!

@Connor Johnson

So that will keep people from running red lights in front of trains?

When I took Driver's Education in 1982, we were taught to stop at all red lights, not just the ones that were convenient. We were also taught not to proceed into an intersection unless it was safe. I guess the course has changed some.

So Connor,

You’d be OK if the driver of the Honda ran the red light and ran into a school bus instead of a trax train? Maybe if they only hit a cement truck? How about another car? I know, I know, what if they hit a pedestrian because they ran the red light?

Moral of the story – don’t run red lights.

Re: Conner Johnson 9:29 a.m. March 27, 2012
Maybe if UTA goes back to 'affordable' public transportation it will stop the negative actions that have been occurring in 2012."

Based on ridership the vast majority of people saving money by taking TRAX must be satisfied. Certainly no one is forces to use their services.

The trick is to get car drivers do their sleeping at home and not on the railroad tracks.

I'm really starting to feel for UTA. There have been so many senseless accidents, most of which are not at the fault of UTA, that leave their commuters stranded for a period of time. Some commuters are starting to lose their trust in the needed timeliness of public transportation.

Are we running these trains in "Stealth Mode"? I mean... they're pretty easy to see and predict where they are going to do... right?

@ouisc

"I'm really starting to feel for UTA."

Why? They made a deliberate decision to place Trax above ground where they knew stupid drivers would be. They had the option to do the right thing by making it a subway, but they didn't. Why? Because it would cost more and their executive team wouldn't have gotten their six-figure bonuses that year.

For all the problems that subways have, being smashed into by cars isn't one of them.

@Brave Sir Robin

Not every city/state has the ability to place mass transit below ground or on monorails above ground. How long has it taken Los Angeles to build a subway system due to the extraordinary costs involved? It has taken 22 years to build 79 miles of track. In comparison, the UTA has built 79 miles of track in 12 years in a city with 1/10th of the population. I have been to other cities with light rail - Minneapolis, Portland, San Jose pop to mind, and I have never seen the kind of careless regard that drivers and pedestrians have around trains that exists here in Salt Lake. In those other cities trains and cars exist in harmony without drama and without destruction.

The problem is not UTA, it is the moronic drivers who are on their cell phone, doing make up, shaving, etc while driving and not paying attention to the road. As for monorail or subway - that debate went on ad naseum when light rail was first proposed. Costs for both were prohibitive and the subway option was astronomically expensive. Both also had serious feasability issues and logistical barriers. Seattle has a monorail but expanded their transit with light rail. That should tell you something.

What we have are multiple of driving laws and conditions in place, one for trains who don't have to stop for traffic, pedestrians, or stopped vehicles. Then we have vehicle driving laws for vehicles using the same lights and roads and there is a major conflict in right of way causing accidents and killing people.

It's time to call in the Federal DOT to investigate these accidents and deaths with an impartial unbiased investigations rather than police and UTA. Maybe this is why all the other cities with rail systems put them on elevated tracks and why the original developers in 1980's bid want to put in an elevated rail system at no tax cost.

This accident happened because a man was in the left turn lane waiting for traffic to clear not knowing a train was sneaking up on him from behind and to his left. As traffic stopped he made his turn only the train didn't wait for him to clear the intersection. Now who is at fault? Who violated the rules of the road? The train for not waiting for the intersection to clear or the driver obeying the rules?