Fatal accident prompts BART to change safety procedure

In response to last week's accident that killed two Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers, the agency's board yesterday made permanent a temporary moratorium on a procedure known as "simple approval" in which trackside workers were responsible for their own safety.

BART will employ only the more restrictive "work orders" procedures that require trains to stop or slow to 25 mph in areas where track workers may be present, BART General Manager Grace Crunican said in a prepared statement.

BART also might consider an outside investigation of the Oct. 19 accident, in which an out-of-service train struck and killed two BART workers as they were inspecting track.

BART is "cooperating fully" with the National Transportation Safety Board's ongoing investigation, Crunican said.

"Until all the facts are known, it's not appropriate for BART to comment on events of Oct. 19 except to say that BART will take whatever steps are necessary in order to prevent future tragedies," she said.

Also yesterday, BART's board unanimously passed resolutions honoring the two deceased workers, BART employee Christopher Sheppard and BART contractor Laurence Daniels.