DRIVER IN FATAL TRAIN-TRUCK ACCIDENT TESTED POSITIVE FOR MARIJUANA

CHICAGO -- The driver of a truck involved in a fatal commuter train wreck
last week has tested positive for marijuana, authorities say.

Keith Lintz, 39, of Niles, Mich., was driving a double tractor-trailer into
a steel mill in Portage, Ind., on June 18 when the truck, carrying three
40,000 pound steel coils, became trapped between two parallel train tracks.

While Lintz was stopped for a freight train on one of the tracks, a
Chicago-bound commuter train on the other tracks crashed into the rear
trailer. The impact hurled one of the coils into the front car of the
two-car train, killing three passengers and injuring six others.

Chief David Reynolds of the Portage police said tests found marijuana in
Lintz's urine. Blood tests were still pending. He could not say how much
marijuana the tests found or that it contributed to the cause of the crash.

"Unlike some other drugs, marijuana stays in your system for quite a while,
so it may be a case where he took some marijuana several weeks ago and it's
just still in his system," Reynolds said.

Lintz, whose driving record shows he has received two warning letters from
the Michigan secretary of state's office in the last five years for
accumulating points on his license, was cited for four violations at the
time of the crash.

The most serious included a failure to properly secure the coils, and an
overweight violation, which meant Lintz should not have been pulling the
second trailer. Reynolds said evidence was being formally presented to
prosecutors Wednesday, who would have the final decision on whether Lintz
will face criminal charges.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board re-created the
crash Saturday. Matthew Furman, a spokesman for the agency, said
preliminary findings from the re-enactment show the train engineer saw the
trailer only five to seven seconds before impact.

After applying the emergency brake, the engineer was able to slow the train
from 68 mph to 43 mph at the point of impact. Furman said the full
investigation would take about year to complete.

Lintz has told investigators the freight train on the parallel tracks in
front of him and the crossing gates behind him boxed him in, preventing him
from moving.

The 90-mile-long South Shore line shuttles more than 12,000 passengers
daily between South Bend, Ind., and Chicago. Portage, Ind., a town of about
30,000 is 30 miles southeast of Chicago.

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company

Checked-by: Richard Lake