Apparently, the train was cruising at its 200 kph line speed, while the engineer was talking on a cell phone. Engrossed in the conversation, he failed to notice that the train had left the 200 kph zone and entered an 80 kph zone, in preparation for taking the curve. When he did notice, he exclaimed, "We're going too fast!" and hit the brakes. Too late. A conventional story of an accident brought on by cell-phone distraction.

But here's the wrinkle. He wasn't chatting about Barcelona's chances in its next soccer match; he wasn't even using his personal cell phone, which was tucked safely away. He was talking with a Renfe employee about the dispatch of the train itself. He was using the regular cell phone that Renfe places in the cabs of all of its locomotives. Every nation in Europe forbids operators of moving vehicles from talking on cell phones; what were they thinking?

Here is a safety problem that has sneaked up on us. Two-way radio may be klunky and awkward to use, but this very fact means it isn't used much. The sound quality is bad, so messages tend to be short. In addition, only one participant can send at a time; the other must receive. By contrast, in telephony the participants occupy the same "acoustical space;" they can talk over each other or at the same time if they want. This draws the attention dangerously away from operation of the train. My suggestion to Renfe: Scrap the phones and go back to radios. Or rig the phones so they only work when the train is stationary.