Subject: TTC Tragedy:Blame Everyone Else!

From: [email-masked] (Bob Richards)
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 00:23:54 +0000

OK,the facts are in...

1- The driver ran at least 3 red lights!.There is a lot of hot air from
his lawyer and the union about why it wasnt entirely his fault,but the
facts are that he ran 3 red lights.

2- There was a malfunction at a  signal downstream that caused the train
he hit to be stopped in the tunnel when it was hit. However,the driver ran
3 red lights to hit him.

3- My source,Deep Tunnel,sez that even with a malfunctioning trip
arm,there is no way any SANE driver could have gone so fast as he did at
the time of the collision.No sane driver uses full throttle in the face of
red lights ,even if you think the "lunar" will kick in a split-second
before you hit it.(the "lunar" or white light,notifies the driver that he
is in an area where the lights only change from red to yellow if you stay
within A certain speed limit.A timed zone,so to speak) In some
circumstances,the best thing for the driver to do is to just slow down a
little.Not floor it.

4-There are certain areas within the subway system that have chronically
malfunctioning signals(between Sheppard and Finch northbound,for example).

5-The bottom line is,there are some weak areas in the Subway signal
system,though not many.The driver fucked up ,big time,aided by a trip arm
that did not do what it's desingned to do.However,the guilt is with the
driver.Deep Tunnel and the rest of the gang want to make sure you know
that.

"Alas,the most difficult thing to defend is the true asshole's right
to freedom of expression"- Bob Allisat

---

From: [email-masked] (Mark Brader)
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 11:03:11 GMT

David Collier-Brown ([email-masked]) writes:

> You should understand that these aren't the red lights that we're
> all familiar with.  They're more like the rows of red lights that
> ``count down'' to the start of a drag race!
> 
> You're ``on time'' if you pass the lights just as the reds all go **out**.

This is correct, and needs to be understood (especially by people both
in the press and in this newsgroup who are screaming about "running red
lights").  But it's only part of the story.

The basic meaning of a red signal is, of course, "do not pass this signal
now".  It can be red in normal operation for any of several reasons:

	1. This is the end of the line.
	2. There is a train ahead.
	3. You will have to wait for a switch to change.
	4. Your train's scheduled time to leave this station
	   has not yet arrived.  (Applies at the start of each
	   trip and at certain intermediate stations.)
	5. Control wants your train to stop.
and
	6. There is a speed limit on this section, due to a curve
	   and/or downgrade, and if you're moving at the proper
	   speed, the signal will change just before you reach it.

Now, the thing is that a signal which is red for reason 6 fits
David's description quoted above (and elucidated in the rest of his
message).  Such a signal *can and should* be approached at the normal
operating speed for this section of route -- which for the section in
question was 30 mph (48 km/h).  *But* if the signal is red for some
other reason, then the driver must expect to *stop* at the signal
and, of course, should not approach it at speed.

So it is important for the driver to know when the red is merely a
timed one (reason 6) and when it's red for some other reason.  This
information is given by a white light under the *preceding* signal.
If the white light is present, the next signal can be expected to
change.

If the timed sequence extends over multiple blocks, then each signal
before the last one has the white light.  If the line is clear, the
driver will see a yellow and white at the start of the timed section,
then one or more red and white signals, which each change to yellow and
white as they are approached; then a final red, which changes to green
as it is approached.  If you ride at the front of a train over any
downhill section of the system -- such as the descent to Old Mill, or
to York Mills, from either direction, or most of the southbound parts
along Yonge, University, and Spadina -- you can see this happening.
Passing any of the red and whites before it changes will trip the train,
as, of course, will the final red.

The entire section from St. Clair West to Dupont is timed in this way.
The signal on leaving St. Clair West southbound is never green, but
is yellow and white if the line is clear.  Suppose that a driver
sees a yellow at this location (signal SP77) and *mistakes* it for a
yellow and white.  Then the next signal (SP71) will be red, but he'll
approach it at normal speed (30 mph).  And SP71 is the one whose
trip arm failed to do its job.

The article in the Star that ran under the sensationalistic headline
about "running 3 red lights" actually contained a reasonable attempt
to convey what I have been writing about here -- but, I think, not a
good enough attempt to be easily understood by anyone who didn't
already understand it.  (It didn't help that they reversed red and
green at one point!)  And it also gave a strong implication that the
driver in question *did* make exactly the mistake at SP77 that I
described in the previous paragraph.  As far as I know, this has not
been authoritatively confirmed, but it certainly makes sense to me.

Suppose that this happened.  Now, an experienced driver would know
that SP71 is not the last signal in the timed series, and therefore
would be red and white, not red, if it was red merely because of the
speed limit.  The appearance of a plain red would set off mental
alarms.  But a driver two days on the job probably wouldn't yet have
that detailed knowledge of the individual signals, or not enough to
be confident in, so he wouldn't react that way.

The appearance of a *further* red at the next signal, SP65 (and its
repeater), should again have set off mental alarms.  But by this
time it was really too late anyway; the stopped train was just ahead.

This explanation is NOT meant to excuse the driver if he did in fact
mistake a signal through carelessness or inattention.  Not making
such mistakes is an essential part of the job, after all.  But even
if that is what happened, let us not confuse the picture with
nonsensical suggestions of idiotic driving.

In particular, I want to slap down the remarks about drivers trying
to break speed records and charging at full power downhill.  Even the
least experienced driver would know enough not to do that.  You can
watch them -- on downhill sections, coasting is normal practice.
If they applied power, they'd get tripped!  The trick is to switch
from power to coasting at the right place when the downhill section is
reached, and there are markers in the tunnel to advise on that.

I have been simplifying in one respect both here and in the other
article I just posted (about signals and train stops).  What I said
is correct for signals with a single color-light head; but there are
also signals with two heads.  These show G/G instead of G, Y/G instead
of Y, and R/R instead of R.  SP77 is actually of this type, so the
alleged confusion was really of Y/G with Y/G/W.  The differences
between the two types are irrelevant to this posting.
-- 
Mark Brader                     "How can we believe that?"
[email-masked]                      "Because this time it's true!"
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto                  -- Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER

My text in this article is in the public domain.