One driver, twenty tickets
As investigation into train disaster progresses, truck driver's role found crucial; Ynet discovers driver had 20 traffic violations since moving to Israel five years ago and his employers at Eliyahu Bros. trucking company have had their own problems with law; train driver also sped through slow-down zone
After a day of investigation and collection of evidence, police have a pretty good picture of the truck driver who crashed into the Beer Sheva-bound train: In the five years Leonid Galinsky lived in Israel, he amassed 20 traffic violations.
Galinsky worked for five years as a truck driver, and paid for his tickets – some for speeding way over the legal limit – out of his pocket. He received two tickets this year.
Meanwhile, the police have sent to the lab the truck's technograph – a device that monitors the amount of hours the driver is on the road. Police want to find out if Galinksy's hours on the road, as submitted by his employer Eliyahu Bros. trucking company, match those recorded by the instrument.
The Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa is cooperating in the investigation.
The police plan to scrutinize the Beer Sheva trucking company, which has already gotten into trouble in the past. The Police’s Central Traffic Unit investigated the company three months ago, and an arrest charge is being prepared.
According to the charge, the company fixed its trucks with a switch that could neutralize the technograph, thus allowing drivers to drive beyond the legal limit – sometimes dozens of hours straight – without being discovered. One driver was caught driving 40 consecutive hours.
Police interrogated more than 20 “Eliyahu Bros.” employees, including the owners, drivers and safety officers. Galinksy was also questioned at the time, and as a result, his job assignment was changed to trucking for a road paving operation near the Trans Israel Highway, in the Revadim area.
The company owners were questioned regarding the events that took place.
The driver did not slow down
The train’s black box indicated the train’s driver traveled at a speed of 143 kph (about 89 mph) and did not slow down as he approached the area in which the crash took place, as was instructed due to construction being done there.
Apparently the driver had sounded the train’s horn some 650 meters (about 0.4 miles) from the collision site, but only because it was obligated of him in accordance with safety guidelines, not because he noticed the truck.
The driver began to slow down only just before the collision occurred, but was missing an additional kilometer (0.6 miles) to be able to come to a complete stop.
However, despite the findings, police officials said the train driver’s fault is miniscule in comparison with that which is related to the truck driver and truck company owners, whose interrogation will continue throughout the following days.
The investigation team is also set to look into the activity of the Israel Railways employee whose job it is to direct traffic in the area.
It is estimated that had the truck driver obeyed the stop sign placed before the train tracks, he would have been able to notice the charging train. Investigators are not ruling out that infrastructure problems in the area, along with other geographical factors, contributed to the tragic accident.
Friday investigators are scheduled to hold a full reenactment of the crash.
6 remain in serious condition
Meanwhile 60 people who were injured in the crash remain hospitalized; six are listed in serious condition, two are suffering from moderate to serious wounds, 11 are listed in moderate condition, while the rest are suffering from light injuries.
Seven people were killed in the accident, but only six bodies have been identified.
Nine-month-old Hadas Akmayev, who lost her mother in the tragedy, has regained consciousness and has started to breathe on her own; she is currently listed in serious condition, but doctors say they are optimistic regarding her chances of recovery.
Doron Sheffer contributed to this article
