The Wrong Response To The Hoboken Train Crash

During the morning rush-hour commute Thursday, a New Jersey Transit train crashed at the Hoboken station. According to reports, the accident caused at least 100 injuries and at least one death. While there's certainly many things to say about the tragic incident, we don't yet know the cause of the train crash, and should not be automatically asking for the driver's name, as some Twitter users are doing.

This is not an OK response to a tragedy. When citizens jump to conclusions and immediately blame the driver of a train for the incident, and suggest possible ethnicity, it just shows how paranoid people are becoming. Citizens have to let the police do their investigation and gather the evidence and wait for the dust to settle instead of making accusations of this level. As reported by NBC New York, preliminary reports are saying that the crash was accidental or caused by operator error.

While the investigation is still ongoing, it's important to take the word of the officials involved. According to NBC New York, a law enforcement official has said that the train engineer was among the survivors of the crash. We also know that the train did not have technology designed to slow speeding trains, according to The Associated Press. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, said the engineer was in critical condition, and cooperating with investigators.

Since details are still being sorted out, there is no need to jump to conclusions about the nature of the crash or speculate on any foul-play just yet. Rushing to conclusions about these activities only causes panic and frustration as law enforcement continues their investigations. During his press conference, Christie updated the public on the condition of those involved in the crash. He told reporters that one person who was standing on the platform at the train station was killed and that at least 108 people were injured in the incident. CEO of Jersey Medical Center Joseph Scott, said that some of those injured were in critical condition. According to Christie, the train had entered the Hoboken station at high speed and crashed through barriers in the terminal.

We'll need to wait to see what comes of officers' investigations and what the NJ Transit can do to prevent this type of disaster from happening again. Until then, it's best to take in information as it comes instead of thinking up baseless conclusions.