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Samantha Hayes ReportingA Union Pacific locomotive, run by remote control, got out of control this morning creating what could have been a disastrous situation.
When one of these remote engines gets going too fast, like what happened today, there's nobody on it to stop it. The locomotive hit a rail car, the rail car knocked a truck chassis into the main track, the main track is where hazardous materials are transported all day long.
Union Pacific says the remote control technology did not fail. They said it was operator. But engineers disagree and say the technology is unsafe to workers and the public.
Union Pacific says they have not had any failures in the technology and their percentage of accidents in switching yards where it is used has dropped from 50 percent to 30 percent. Local municipalities are not convinced though. South Salt Lake passed a resolution against remote control locomotives in Roper Yard, but Union Pacific is making plans to operate there anyway.
