Train & Metro Rail Transit Project The risks associated with Train & Metro Rail, are massive in scope due in part to the unique nature of their transport of the public, by a government entity in most cases, who are charged with the safety and well being of those they transport. This service dynamic poses 2 very different types of Fleet Risk Management aspects that must be dealt with in a single seamless mechanism that can be relied upon to help insure the safety of those riding these systems while at the same time help manage the risk for the carrier agency. External forces Those who are determined to inflict losses upon the public passengers, the service company or the nation they are operated in Internal forces Those actions of irresponsible, undisciplined, criminal driver behavior that risk the lives of those onboard and massive liability Project Objective: MVS has identified the above two primary challenges and concerns related to Train & Metro Rail and what can be achieved by integration of an “Active Mobile Video” system in these specialized applications that can be of value to the agency operating the vehicle by enhancing the evidence documentation as well as active technologies supported by the cellular gateway for improved oversight and risk management. of the The Train & Metro Rail Project primarily targeted 2 areas of concern: * Driver Risk Management ("DWT" Federal Mandate Compliance) * Evidence Documentation Risk Management Federal Compliance Validation Active Cell Phone Detection, Active Live Alerts and immediate video documentation Daily passenger complaints of train engineers or rail operators who are dangerously distracted while using their cell phones while driving. Weekly DWT accident news coverage documentation the loss of human life and suffering, monthly Mainstream News reports and expose of DWT caused tragedies costing unnecessary human loss of lives, has precipitated a response on a Federal level to validate that this problem has now been seen as a national concern that requires new Federal intervention with a Federal mandate that prohibits distracted drivers who may be Driving While Texting (DWT). Current Fleet Driver Risk Solutions For “Driving While Texting“ (DWT) Incorporate DWT Materials into Professional Driver Training The most basic form of driver awareness to these dangers is in a formal training environment, from the start with periodic reinforcements, and case studies when appropriate to try to keep this at the forefront of the driver’s awareness as to the costs far outweighing the benefits. While this should be an integral part of the solution, this is optimism at best to believe that telling an driver they should not do something, that is now ingrained in their culture, will have any substantial effect. Company Policy No Cell Phones It is already unlawful for Interstate or heavy duty truck and bus drivers to use their cell phones when driving, it is still a daily driver behavior that cannot be eliminated as it is so hard to detect and widespread. While a company is free to tell their drivers they must not have a cell phone while in the vehicle, the actual number of employees who will follow this policy may fail to stop usage. Again this is a must for all companies to set a professional tone with their employees and project a public image of responsible attention to the safety of those their drivers share the roads with. Often this is more a means to try to deflect blame and public outrage when the company driver ignores what the company policy is and spends time texting friends or loved ones while driving. Driver Cameras Alternative Those who rely on a conventional driver cam or event recorder to stop DWT, are wasting their company capital and providing a false sense of security and Federal compliance. The same smiling salesperson who was happy to take your order may have a hard time getting back to you when your company or agency is named in another $49,000,000.00 lawsuit that you believed their event recorder would prevent. Hindsight like truth, can be painfully honest, and no matter how quickly we learn from our mistakes, the knowledge gained form that pain, it will not bring back the loss of life, damaged public relations, loss of property, it will merely provide the proper perspective that you were deceived to believe a passive device could ever provide a proactive alert in time for an accident to be prevented. * Drive Cameras cannot alert you when your drivers are “Driving While Texting” (DWT) * Event Recorders cannot alert you when your drivers are “Driving While Texting” (DWT) * Telemetry Data Recorders cannot alert you when your drivers are “Driving While Texting” (DWT) * Windshield Driver Cameras cannot alert you when your drivers are “Driving While Texting” (DWT) * Bus Video Cameras cannot alert you when your drivers are “Driving While Texting” (DWT) * Vehicle Surveillance Cameras cannot alert you when your drivers are “Driving While Texting” (DWT) None of the above products saved a single one of the 5,500 People Killed Every Year Due to “DWT” accidents The solution to the “DWT” epidemic is Cell Phone Detection & Immediate Active Alerts, standard in the Professional Series MVS-SSD4CPD. Cell Phone Detection & Immediate Alerts helps insure Federal “Driving While Texting” Compliance The Problem How valuable is it to have a Event Recorder or Driver Cam show you a good image of your driver “Driving While Texting” after the fact, after the loss of life, after personal injuries, after the destruction of company assets, private property and after your company driver has opened up a Pandora's Box of litigation? Would the knowledge that your company got a good deal on a cheap Driver Cam in any way help to defend your company against the tsunami of negative public opinion, not to mention a precedent settlement of $49,000,000,00? The Solution Mobile Video Systems LLC of CA, is now offering the first driver use Cell Phone Detector. This device can now discriminate between use of a cell phone by the engineer in the driver seat or immediate area, and use from authorized users who are not driving. This unique device developed and integrated specifically for the Professional Series MVS-SSD4-CPD “Active Mobile Video” system, can now proactively defuse the threat of undisciplined drivers who expose those who employ them to massive risk, with total disregard for life, property or federal mandates /state statutes. Prevention is the best defense against the tidal wave of “Driving While Texting” risk, and the tsunami of lawsuit and settlement costs incurred from what can now be detected and can now be actively stopped before the accident. Active Mobile Video With Live Cell Detection Option The Best deterrent to a drivers use of a cell phone is a mechanism that can detect cell phone use by the driver, record a single image of the driver violating law and company policy, then actively alert the CMS Operator or supervisors via PDA, Blackberry while sending them the image of the driver caught in the act, as well as a link to a short video clip pre event and post event to get a detailed view of what occurred. Human Nature is not quickly changed. Texting is now part of the social media technology and as such those engaging in this activity are invested at a emotional level. On the emotional scale of reasons for texting, on one end of the scale for laudable reasons such as to stay in constant touch with loved ones who may be ill, or the other end of the spectrum of pathetic sycophant who just wants to be popular with their peers, those with no regard for restrictions on their behavior when they are alone will often do as they wish without regard for possible consequences. When engineers are on their own with no supervision or oversight they often do what they please. Those who believe Federal laws, State laws, company policy will prevent them from texting are part of the problem. They are exposing their companies or Transit Authorities to Engineer Risk, they are jeopardizing their company reputation, public image and physical assets. A single CMS Operator running the "Active Mobile Video" MVS-SSD4-CPD or 8-Channel version MVS-SSD8-CPD can monitor up to 45 drivers activities in 3G Live View, and at the first Active Alert by the Cell Detection, signaling cell phone use, they can engage the 2-Way Intercom and remind the engineer "Cell phone use while driving is a crime and grounds for immediate termination from this company". This is the first functional and effective Real Time solution to this problem before the use of the phone can cause an accident to take the lives of their company engineer or others. The use of the "MVS-SSD4-CPD" & "MVS-SSD8-CPD" with Live View via CMS Operator the most effective means of Fleet Driver Risk Management relating to cell phone use. When lives are at stake, there is no substitute for "Active Mobile Video" w/ Cell Phone Detection from Mobile Video Systems. Active Safety Levels of Control & Oversight In the Professional Series SSD4 based systems, the system alerts dengineers to preset limits on the vehicle operation that are set by the owner or a fleet manager/ administrator. These preset limits will alert drivers when they exceed the normal operation of the vehicles that have been predetermined. This integration provides Professional Series Fleet Driver Risk Management at its best, providing multiple levels of management oversight, multiple data transmission methods and creating a network based Cellular Gateway that others in the company or who may need to know can access from remote locations. Levels of Oversight Provided By "Active Mobile Video" Active Mobile Video systems provide multiple levels of management oversight from simply reminding the driver they are doing something unsafe to alerting management and opening a Live View with 2-Way communication. Active Engineer Alerts This is as simple as a audio alert to the Engineer to remind them they have exceeded a preset threshold of driving parameters. Common examples would be speeding, hard turns, hard braking, over idling. E-mail Alerts to CMS Operator The next level of oversight provided will be alerts to the CMS Operator, so they may now be aware of the incident or Engineer behavior. E-mail Alerts to Supervisors The next level of oversight provided will be alerts to the supervisor who may be in the field, so they may now be aware of the incident or driver behavior via PDA, Blackberry. E-mail Screenshots to Supervisors The next level of oversight provided will be screenshots to the supervisor who may be in the field, so they may see a screenshot of the incident or driver behavior via PDA, Blackberry. E-mail Video Clip Links to Supervisors The next level of oversight provided will be video clip links via E-mail to the supervisor who may be in the field, so they may watch the video file of the incident or driver behavior via PDA, Blackberry. Live View With 2-Way Intercom Once events have made it to a level that is either life threatening or simple requires management to take a very active role this can be achieved by directly viewing what is going on in the vehicle and in front of it by Live View and then a 2-Way communication can be opened with the Engineer to ascertain what problems may be evident and who to best resolve them in a safe manor. This is Professional Series Engineer Risk Management at its best, providing multiple levels of management oversight; multiple data transmission methods and creating a network based Cellular Gateway that others in the company or who may need to know can access from remote locations. Evidence Documentation Risk Management The value of having “Expert Witness” in the form of an high tech “Active Mobile Video” system, that can provide unbiased, accurate, sequential video and audio recordings, immediately transmitted via 3G to a CMS Operator or by SMS or E-mail to the supervisor of the company could be instrumental to immediate summon assistance as well as start creating a evidence file before the incident is even over. Imagine your driving down the road in your Mercedes, when a missile stops your vehicle. From out of the smoke you see your vehicle quickly under siege by 10+ men with automatic weapons shooting your car and tossing grenades at what is now left of it after the missile explosion. Image you actually survive this assault! Could you even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to give an accurate detailed description that might actually assist the authorities in rounding up those responsible before they repeat the performance when you are not in your armored vehicle? This actually happened in 1998 to Georgian President Eduard Shervardnadze, and yes he survived. After The Assault The problem often hindering law enforcement or military after the assault, and the endless yet vital questions they will ask of those who survived the assault to try to track down those responsible and stop them before they try again. This is extremely important as once an assault against an Train or Metro Rail is over, it is imperative to determine exactly what happened in order to track down the perpetrators. In a swift surprise assault, where you are literally faced with your imminent death, that may only last a few seconds, could you provide the following information in a clear, rational and accurate manor? How many assailants were involved? Their physical descriptions? Their clothing worn? Any tattoos, scars or other identifying traits? What language were they speaking? Their vehicle descriptions? Their vehicle license plates? Their weapons employed? Their tactics as employed against the armored vehicle? Anything the may have said to the vehicle occupants? Any verbal instructions shouted to each other? What direction did they go when they left? Were there any witnesses who also saw the incident? This is where the value of foresight can save you future assaults and engagements if the evidence recorded by the “Active Mobile Video” system can be used efficiently by the authorities or Armed Forces to bring those who were responsible to justice, before they have the opportunity to try again. Civilian Trials For Terrorist Due to recent administration determination to extend civil rights to those perpetrating terrorist acts against the USA or against US citizens or companies, it is essential that the level of evidence gathered from an incident be sufficient to provide prosecutors with a solid case against the perpetrators, as in a criminal case the requirement for evidence that will lead to a conviction are much more difficult to secure. Many of the recently captured terrorists held by US Authorities were released due to the higher requirements for evidence if they are tied in US criminal cases. Rules of Engagement While the US Armed Forces and her allies perform their service with exemplary precision, restraint and compassion, they are often not able to take action when they are clearly under threat of hostile fire due to their ROE or Rules of Engagement. In many cases ROE require that they be taking live fire from enemies before they are able to return fire. Those civilian law enforcement officers who operate on or respond to events in these transit environments are also in need of the same level of documentation to support their actions were justified when they are required or compelled to make decisive . A few years back, I was contacted by the State Department, who enlisted the services of a private contractor for protection services for their staff in dangerous countries. A private contractor in the Middle East had an armored convoy incident, where their personnel were implicated in a civilian shooting incident. The US State Department was looking for ways to document what might happen in future incidents so that when contractors or military armed convoys were involved in return fire incidents that they had verifiable proof they were fired upon prior to any return fire. It is not enough to be surrounded by armed potential threats in some cases, now it must be proven that you were actually fired upon in order to completely justify return fire, which is why in the future I can clearly see the integration of mobile video systems in all military vehicles as well as most civilian law enforcement vehicles to insure the establishment of an expert witness for potential court litigation and corporate liability protection. At the time, about 4 years ago, the system technologies were insufficient to achieve their needs for cellular transmission of all events directly to a central CMS Operator. So while we presented them a solution, it was not sufficient to their operational requirements and the State Department did not require them to implement them into their service vehicles. We now have the ability to provide an Active Mobile Video system that they needed years ago, with very flexible software that can integrate with many third party or customized software to provide a cellular gateway for their mobile data needs. “Active Mobile Video” Concept to Reality Due to the importance of Risk Management and Evidence Documentation for the Light Rail, Train and Metro Transit Bus markets, the MVS solution was a new generation of “Active Mobile Video” devices originally developed for the Law Enforcement market, which could offer measurable reductions in risk and enhanced oversight for Light Rail, Train and Metro Transit Bus as both applications had similar needs. MVS began a process to explore what is currently possible with existing technology, what might be possible if that current technology was applied in different or unusual methods, plus, what those current technologies could offer if integrated properly in a cohesive, and articulate form that takes full advantage of the newest 3G cellular Live View technologies for the Light Rail, Train and Metro Transit Bus community in applications that would benefit from a new generation of “Active Mobile Video” based systems. Below are the original goals set by the MVS staff, in their efforts of Risk Management and Evidence Documentation in an “Active Mobile Video” system. “Active Mobile Video” Light Rail, Train and Metro Transit Bus Project Goals * Provide complete oversight of entire transport process to management. * Provide a wireless “hands off” chain of custody for all video evidence in case of event. * Provide client ability to login and monitor their passengers from their own PCs * Provide an extra level of driver awareness an oversight of accountability. * Provide GPS live tracking of all vehicles in fleet * Provide Geo-Fencing with live border violation alerts * Provide active visual support to drivers of Light Rail, Train and Metro Transit Bus * Provide audible support to drivers of Light Rail, Train and Metro Transit Bus when needed. * Provide CMS operator ability to watch the back of driver and verify progress * Provide CMS operator ability to immediate request medical or backup when the situation warrants it w/o driver contact. * To provide CMS operator the ability to request medical assistance for passengers when they may be incapacitated. * To enable the vehicle to be immediately rendered non drivable discretely. * To enable CMS operator visual verification of vehicle status prior to shutdown of engine * To provide immediate supervisor determination of actual visual events at a higher level * To provide immediate EMT evaluation from afar to physical and visual issues for those who may have been exposed to toxic chemicals * To provide visual and audible translation from afar for persons speaking unusual languages. Summary In Summary, MVS found that though novel applications of existing and new technologies enhanced by articulation back end software that will support those innovative applications, it is now possible to provide an “Active Mobile Video” system to greatly enhanced the level of Train & Metro Rail driver & passenger safety, as well as greatly expand the effectiveness of the mobile video system to help make it a more effective evidence gathering tool for the prosecution of perpetrators in an effort to provide a jury with the highest level of evidence to base their verdict. It is our belief that implementation of the Active Mobile Video on Train & Metro Rail could substantially and immediately enhance Engineer / Passenger Safety, and lower risk of loss to valuable cargo, by exploring some of the new 3G technology mechanisms now offered by MVS “Active Mobile Video” system known as the Cell Phone Detection model MVS-SSD4-CPD.
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Train Engineer Cell Phone Use
of train engineer cell phone violation to validate Federal compliance.