Echoes of Fatal California Train Disaster in SMS-Related Boston Trolley Collision

People ask, or rather, complain about laws which seemingly shouldn't need writing, but despite the text messaging-caused train collision in California last year in which 25 people died, well, here we are again. Two trolleys collided in Boston on Friday, injuring 49, and a conductor told police he was texting his girlfriend just before the accident.

In the accident, one trolley rear-ended another, stationary trolley. The 24-year-old operator of the moving trolley told the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) he was text messaging at the time. The moving trolley hit the stationary one with enough force to push it about 100 feet into the tunnel toward the Park Street station. Both trolleys derailed and sustained significant damage.

The MBTA already bans operators from using cell phones while on duty. Despite that, it appears the temptation to connect with his girlfriend was apparently too much for this conductor. Use of a cell phone while on duty can result in firing (which I hope happens in this case).

Officials would not release the conductor's name, but said he had been on the job for less than two years.

MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas said Saturday that a total ban, not even allowing operators to carry a cell phone onto a trolley or bus, will be instituted as quickly as possible.

"I want to remove any temptation by one or two people stupid enough to think a moment of convenience is worth the lives of the people they're transporting. I'm not going to wait for someone to die to institute a policy whose time I think has come."

Grabauskas hopes to have the policy in place within a week. At a press conference, he said:

"There is a zero-tolerance policy for the use of any kind of electronic device. I can tell you it's difficult to contain my outrage at hearing this."

In last year's Metrolink accident in California, the Metrolink engineer, Robert Martin Sanchez, 46, who was killed in the crash along with 24 others, was texting during his time on duty, and sent a text message only 22 seconds prior to the crash.

I also earlier wrote about a woman sentenced to six years in prison for text messaging while driving, colliding with another (stationary) vehicle, which burst into flames, kiling the driver.

Part of the problem with people: common sense does not always seem to be part of our makeup.

Watch a short video report on the incident:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy