PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Crews have been working around the clock to repair the light rail line at 18th and Washington streets that\u2019s been closed for hours.<\/p>\n
Phoenix police officers say a semi truck driver took an illegal left turn and crashed into a light rail train, igniting it in flames<\/a>. The crash was caught on surveillance video attached to Jet Limousines<\/a>, a business near the crash. The owner, Mary Ann, says the flames were so hot that they melted part of one of their buses. <\/p>\n The crash happens as the light rail operations union, Amalgamated Transit Union<\/a>, is considering a strike due to safety issues, causing dangerous working conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bar signals don\u2019t work properly, the black out signals don\u2019t work properly,\u201d said Bob Bean, the president of the local ATU chapter.<\/p>\n Bean says operators deal with 10-hour shifts with minimal bathroom breaks, signal lights for the trains on roadways that don\u2019t work, and operator chairs that he says cause severe back pain. \u201cSome of them are being made to sit like this [bent over] all day, and it\u2019s causing them to be sick,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Though it does not appear that the safety issues ATU members are concerned about had anything to do with this specific crash, they feel more needs to be done to prevent tragedy in the future.<\/p>\n Arizona\u2019s Family reached out to Valley Metro, the company that the light rail operators work for. We have not heard back yet.<\/p>\n Phoenix police say the driver was injured and taken to the hospital in stable condition. No passengers were hurt. Police also say the driver will likely not face criminal charges, only civil citations. <\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n