This is a threshholding issue in which some people can't distinguish between hues. A good railroader friend had that. He did sometimes see red signals as yellow. He ended up leaving the railroad and is now, interestingly, a lawyer.
As someone who wears glasses, has diabetes, and is an Engineer, this will only further to blame engineers with medical conditions for accidents that they didn't cause, force more people to retire early, and give up their dreams, and financial future.
However, that being said, such a serious vision problem requires some action. But blaming him for not retiring early is pushing it a bit far in my opinion. I would not want to give it up either.
you'd think they'd have caught this earlier; I mean, you have to undergo a physical check every year or so when you work for the railroad, right? granted, I'm blind as a fireman on a coal-burner, and would probably have the same issue this engineer did, but that just doesn't make sense to me that no one caught on in time. But that said, I'm NOT saying I know everything, just that my own knowledge and logic would seem to imply the above.
you'd think they'd have caught this earlier; I mean, you have to undergo a physical check every year or so when you work for the railroad, right? granted, I'm blind as a fireman on a coal-burner, and would probably have the same issue this engineer did, but that just doesn't make sense to me that no one caught on in time. But that said, I'm NOT saying I know everything, just that my own knowledge and logic would seem to imply the above.
I agree. In a case of sudden sight-color loss, such as with MS, this might be different. Shame on the railroad for not listening to the complaints of the engineer. They should have found other work for him.
As someone who wears glasses, . . . , and is an Engineer, this will only further to blame engineers with medical conditions for accidents that they didn't cause, force more people to retire early, and give up their dreams, and financial future.
If he was colorblind, it would have been better if he couldn't tell the difference between yellow and green. Because he could tell 'red is red', not 'is that red or is that green?', he would have either slowed down or continue at full speed.
