OldPoleBurner Wrote:

He could have been using the phone while stopped - a
perfectly legitimate and safe thing to do.

If so, then the cell phone had nothing to do with
this accident.

THEN, OPRRMS Wrote:

The point of impact was about 600 feet west of the siding switch. So if the 16:22 figure is indeed correct, he would've already left the station and would've been approaching the signal at CP Topanga.


You are correct, but only based on your assumptions. The role of an investigation is to rule out all possibilities. The only substantiation of the Text Message was from the teen and only evidence was from his phone (that we have seen so far). It's possible that the text was sent a minute earlier and not delivered to the Teen's phone till 16:22, or possible that the Teen's phone had the clock off by a minute or two.

The investigation might PROVE what OPRRMS stated, but until then it is only speculation. This is why people get frustrated over speculation stated as FACT.

Also, we can't change the past right? So the investigation is about finding out what we can do in the future to reduce the chances of this happening again. Thus determining the true cause is in the best interest of all. Perhaps the Text Was the reason, perhaps it was a contributing factor, perhaps it had nothing to do with it at all. It's important they figure that out.