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New story on the Northridge Metrolink crash.

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Quote from the article:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> "The question," Higgins told reporters after the crash, "is did [Sanchez] see it red? "Did he see it as something else?" <o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> These final questions posed by the article seem to explore an entirely new condition on taking responsibility.  There is normally a series of requirements placed on an engineer regarding signals as follows: <o:p></o:p> 1)      Engineer must posess the visual capability of recognizing a signal aspect. 2)      Engineer must observe a signal. 3)      Engineer must recognize the signal aspect. 4)      Engineer must respond to the aspect. <o:p></o:p>It is item #3, which has usually been taken for granted, but may be given more scrutiny in this crash according to the question posed by the article.  In the case of item #3, what if the engineer looks at a red signal and sees it as green?  How can the engineer be held at fault in that case?  If the engineer failed item #3, the problem occurred somewhere in the path between his eys and his brain.  How can one be sure that the accuracy of information is maintained as it travels this path?   <o:p></o:p>   <SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #545454; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">There is an old psychological premise that notes at least a tendency that one sees what one wants to see.  Presumably this attibute varies from one person to the next.  Would the common test for color blindness adequately determine whether a person tends to see what they want to see rather than to see what is?  Or, would the test fail to measure this tendencay because, in the case of such a test, a person who saw what they want to see, might simply want to see the colors being tested?
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