Doctor: Driver in Okla. train wreck had bad eyes


June 18, 2013 at 3:45p.m.

Doctor: Driver in Okla. train wreck had bad eyes

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An investigator says the driver of a Union Pacific Railroad train that failed to comply with slow and stop signals before a deadly 2012 accident in the Oklahoma Panhandle had complained of failing eyesight in recent years.

Dr. Mary Pat McKay told the National Transportation Safety Board today that the driver of one of two trains that collided last June said his eyesight fluctuated from day to day. McKay says the driver couldn’t always distinguish red, green and yellow lights.

The NTSB is meeting in Washington, D.C., to determine the cause of the crash near Goodwell that killed three railroad workers. The agency is expected to make recommendations on how to avoid such an accident in the future.