METRO’s light-rail “transit backbone” suffered another collision with a motorist this afternoon. This time, an off-duty police officer was involved in the collision:
An off-duty Houston police officer was involved in a collision with a Metro train at about 3 p.m. today, at the intersection of Main and West Alabama.
The officer, and two passengers on the train, have been transported to area hospitals for treatment of their injuries.
The police officer’s dog also was injured in the crash.
Metro spokesman George Smalley said that a preliminary report about the train wreck showed that the train operator was headed south bound on Main, when the train was struck by a black Ford Expedition headed westbound on West Alabama.
HPD spokesman Nate McDuell said that the police officer is an undercover narcotics officer who was not on duty. The officer’s dog, which was riding in the Expedition, also was injured in the collision, McDuell said.
Smalley said the preliminary report also indicated that the officer may have run a red light at the intersection.
What, just because a police officer is involved (and not a normal citizen), METRO officials aren’t screeching that the driver was at fault and will be publicly humiliated by Metro Chief Lambert, ticketed, and charged for any damage to the train? In this case, the motorist “may have” been at fault and that’s it? Maybe METRO officials were scared the dog would bite them if they pulled their usual act.
It’s too bad that media outlets no longer report the number of collisions. By John Gaver’s count, that would seem to be #130.
UPDATE (05-14-2006): The Chronicle report has been updated, and now includes the following:
The accident was the 139th involving MetroRail and another vehicle or person since testing began in 2003. It was the 17th incident this year.
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