A sleepy train operator got a rude awakening after dozing off behind the controls of a San Francisco train while on the job.
Shocking video captures the operator nodding off moments before the empty train slams into another, shattering both windshields. The jolt instantly snaps the operator awake.
The video was first obtained by NorCal Bodycam.
The collision occurred on the morning of July 31 near 47th Avenue and Wawona Street, just north of the San Francisco Zoo. Both trains were out of service and laying over between scheduled runs, leaving them completely empty of passengers when the impact happened.
An investigation by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is ongoing.
“This type of incident is simply unacceptable. While the formal investigation of the collision is ongoing, vehicle and infrastructure issues have been ruled out, and the initial determination for the incident is operator error caused by fatigue,” the SFMTA said in a statement, reported ABC News.
It’s not the first time a train operator in San Francisco has apparently fallen asleep at the controls.
A female operator was captured on video slumped over in her chair when a packed train hit a turn hard, accelerating out of a curve.
The fast turn threw riders to the side, with many flung to the floor. “I wanna get off!” one terrified woman wailed in the video, while another yelled, “Oh my God!”
The jolt also woke the driver, who was seen rushing to get control and bring the train to a halt. She then addressed the terrified passengers, repeatedly telling them to “relax.”
The transport agency formally determined operator fatigue was the primary cause of that collision.
In response to these findings, the SFMTA launched a systemwide fatigue-awareness education campaign. The program was designed to train transit operators on recognizing early signs of exhaustion, managing sleep schedules, and preventing similar human-error incidents across the city’s rail network.
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