Thursday, October 25, 1990

Blue Line Kills 4 Year Old and Mother, 12 Hours After Injuring 4 Others

4 Hurt in Latest Blue Line Crash

Los Angeles Times
October 25, 1990

Los Angeles, CA - Four people in a car making a left turn were injured in a collision with a Blue Line train today, less than 12 hours after a mother and her son were killed in another accident along the Los Angeles-to-Long Beach line.

The latest accident occurred about 8:10 a.m. in Long Beach at Burnett Street and Long Beach Boulevard after the driver of the car turned into the southbound train three blocks south of the Willow Station, said Rick Jager, a spokesman for the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

In the earlier incident, Graciela Marinero, 26, of Los Angeles, and her 4-year-old son, Willie Torres, were killed about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday when their car was struck by a Blue Line train at a South-Central Los Angeles intersection.

The victims in today's collision were taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Jager said. A hospital spokesman said the four-all Cambodians-suffered minor injuries.

Wednesday, September 19, 1990

Mother of 11 Walking to Church is First Killed by Blue Line

Blue Line Train Kills Woman, 66, Crossing Tracks Accident
Mother of 11 becomes first fatality since new commuter light rail line opened in July

Los Angeles Times
By Bettina Boxall
September 21, 1990

A Watts woman became the first fatality on the new light rail line between Los Angeles and Long Beach when she was struck by a train Wednesday evening while crossing the tracks at an intersection within sight of her house.

Rosa Ceballos, 66, was on her way to church at about 5:30 p.m. when she was hit head-on by a southbound, Blue Line train traveling at full speed through the crossing at Century Boulevard and South Graham Avenue, authorities said.

Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the accident, some insisting the warning lights and gates were not operating when the train entered the intersection and others saying they were.

"She walked right into the train. The arms were down. The red lights were blinking," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Sharon Madison, who was on the train as part of a routine security patrol.

Madison emphatically dismissed reports that the line's warning signals had not worked as they should.

"That's not true," she said. "I don't know if she didn't hear it. I don't know if she didn't see it or saw it and panicked.

"We were passing Century Boulevard," the sergeant continued. "The train was beginning to brake and we didn't know why. The driver was laying on the horn. We looked out the window to see what the problem was and I saw her (the victim) bouncing along the train."

The train stopped just beyond the intersection and Madison said she ran back to find Ceballos on top of the tracks.

The mother of 11, Ceballos died a short time later at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which built the 19-mile-long line.

The accident-which disrupted service for about 45 minutes-was the most serious on the line since it opened with much fanfare in July.

"This just absolutely stunned us," said Stephanie Brady, the commission's media relations director. "I don't understand why she didn't heed the warning signs. We're confident we made every possible allowance-noise, lights, horns-to warn of coming trains."

Brady said there have been a few minor brushes between cars and trains since the system got under way. A teen-ager lost several toes while playing a game of "dare" with a train near downtown Los Angeles in late July.

Wednesday's fatality will be investigated by both Los Angeles police and the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which operates the system.

Ceballos, who attended church almost daily, lived with one of her children in the 9900 block of South Graham Avenue just a few feet behind another family house that faces the light rail tracks. As twilight fell Wednesday, family members stood in the dusty front yard, tears wetting their faces.

"A little boy, he told me, your mother is over there," said one of Ceballos' sons, Magdaleno Barrientos. He went to the tracks to find out what happened. "And they (authorities) say, `Stay over there.' "

A granddaughter said that Ceballos had neither hearing nor sight problems.

Several people who said they saw the accident maintained that the warning gates lining both sides of the crossing did not come down until after the train stopped.

"The gates weren't down. The horns weren't blowing at all," said Clara Domingo, who was getting into her car when Ceballos was struck nearby.

But on the other side of the tracks, Manuel Jaramillio, a security guard at an apartment complex, backed up Madison's account.

"The gates were down. The lights were going. The driver was blowing his horn. I was wondering if she was going to take that chance," said Jaramillio, who regularly watches the sleek new cars as they whisk between Los Angeles and Long Beach at 55 m.p.h.

Jaramillio said he often sees pedestrians take risks at the crossing.

"They like to play tag, it seems," he said.

While wooden gates block the path of cars when a train passes through the Century and Graham intersection, there is room for pedestrians to walk by the gates and past warning lights and bells onto the four tracks, which carry both freight trains and the Blue Line cars.

Tuesday, July 31, 1990

Blue Line Takes Teenagers Toes

Teen Plays 'Dare,' Loses Toes to Blue Line Train Transit
This first major injury associated with the new commuter service, which today will start charging passengers $1.10 for a one-way ride.

Los Angeles Times
By George Ramos
August 1, 1990

Los Angeles, CA - As officials prepared for today's $1.10 fare startup on the Blue Line, a teen-ager became the first person to receive a major injury associated with the light rail service when he lost several toes while playing a game of "dare" with a train near downtown Los Angeles.

RTD officials said Alejandro Hernandez, 13, of Los Angeles, and four friends were running next to a train near the Pico-Flower station Monday night, apparently daring one another to jump and catch a railing bar on a Blue Line car and then jump off. Hernandez, however, slipped and his left foot became caught under the train's wheels.

"He lost several of his toes," said Andrea Greene, a spokeswoman for the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

The train's operator and passengers were unaware of the mishap as the trolley proceeded south on Flower Street, Greene added.

The youth was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he was in fair and stable condition Tuesday, hospital officials said.

Greene said that while RTD officials regret the accident, they believe that even the most stringent safety measures cannot prevent similar incidents.

"We're doing all that we can," she said, "but this has been going on for decades-boys playing with trains. And who's going to win? Obviously, the train is going to win."

The incident added fuel to arguments from some critics that there are not enough safety precautions along the 22-mile line from Long Beach to Los Angeles.

The head of the RTD bus drivers union said he reminded transit authorities this year that many youngsters play near the line's Pico-Flower station.

"We told them something ought to be done about that," said Earl Clark, general chairman of the United Transportation Union.

He also reiterated fears that unguarded tracks along Washington Boulevard on the southern edge of downtown could lead to accidents. Clark said RTD and state officials responded vaguely that they were looking into several safety concerns along the route.

Transit officials, citing the safety measures in the $11-million contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to provide security on the Blue Line, said they are generally satisfied with efforts to ensure passengers' well-being.

But what can authorities do with playful youngsters who want to outsmart a Blue Line train?

"If we see that type of activity, we will attempt to prevent it," a sheriff's spokesman said.

The trains have been operating free of charge since they began service July 14. One-way fares of $1.10 will begin this morning.