Train driver ‘dozed off in a highway hypnosis’ before 82mph New York crash

The driver of a New York commuter train which derailed killing four people had momentarily dozed off, his lawyer said today.

The Metro-North train crashed in the Bronx area early on Sunday morning after it hit a 30mph bend at 82mph. More than 60 passengers were injured.

Attorney Jeffrey Chartier was with William Rockefeller, 46, at his interview with investigators and described the account the driver gave.

Mr Chartier said his client had succumbed to “highway hypnosis” and nodded off moments before the crash. Mr Chartier said the driver experienced “a daze,” almost like road fatigue. He could not say how long it lasted.

The lawyer said Mr Rockefeller remembers “operating the train, coming to a section where the track was still clear — then, all of a sudden, ... felt something was not right, and he hit the brakes.” Mr Chartier called Mr Rockefeller “a guy with a stellar record who, I believe, did nothing wrong. You’ve got a good guy and an accident. A terrible accident is what it is”.

Anthony Bottalico, leader of the rail employees union , said Mr Rockefeller “basically nodded (off), adding: “He had the equivalent of what we all have when we drive a car. That is, you sometimes have a momentary nod.”

Mr Bottalico said Mr Rockefeller had switched weeks earlier from the night shift to the day shift, “so he did have a change in his hours and his circadian rhythms with regard to sleep”.

Mr Chartier said Mr Rockefeller had gone to bed at 8.30 the previous night to wake up at 3.30am for his 5.00 shift. Mr Rockefeller has worked for the railroad for 15 years, 10 of them as a driver.

Earl Weener of the National Transportation Safety Board said it was too soon to say whether the accident was caused by human error. But he said investigators have found no problems with the train’s brakes or rail signals.

Alcohol tests on the train’s crew members were negative, and investigators were awaiting the results of drug tests, the board said.