On October 13, 2006, at 9:20 a.m., a Union Pacific Railroad (UP) switching brakeman was struck and killed by three coupled railroad cars at the UP’s Watsonville Junction Yard in Pajaro, California. The brakeman had been assigned to a two-person crew (one brakeman, one conductor) designated as LRQ42R-13, which was a regular weekday assignment. Their assignment was to switch 2 railroad cars using a remote-controlled locomotive.
We determined that the probable cause of the Union Pacific Railroad brakeman being struck and killed on October 13, 2006, in Pajaro, California, was the brakeman’s decision to board moving equipment. Contributing to the accident was the crew’s failure to properly follow the Union Pacific Railroad’s speed restrictions when switching cars.
