Railroading Crossing Accident Explanation

I'm sorry.....if you can't tell the difference between a road and a railroad right-of-way, even at night, you have no reason being a driver on the road. Plain and simple.

So here's a question. How many times a day does a driver run a red light or a stop sign causing an accident? Does this mean we should install some type of barrier system so these drivers are prevented from entering the intersection? No, we need better educated drivers on the road. Period.

Go back and look at how many grade crossing there are in the UK, v/s all the ones in the US. Then, come back and talk about how you need a gate at every US grade crossing... Also, have a plan for who's gonna pay for them all.

If an automobile smashes into a railroad crossing gate, the gate will in most cases break or break off, allowing the automobile to continue forward, or to reverse into a safe area clear of the crossing.

 

This fact needs to be taught and demonstrated to every person being issued a driver license. It is so frustrating to read or see news reports of a horrible collision between a train and a motor vehicle "trapped" on a crossing, when it might easily have been prevented had the driver simply backed up against the lowered gate. Better to pay the fine and the replacement fee, than to lose one's life and cause the deaths of many other people.

There's no accounting for stupid. She needs some intense driver training.

When I was on the road my personal theory as that at last 50% of the drivers around you were stupid, impaired or psychotic - at best.  Served me well. Notice the reporter was trespassing on the RR right of way !!

Today's world needs to be engineered to minimize the damage from stupidity and accidents in the most cost-effective way.

 

Some states are leaning towards legalizing medical marijuana and/or recreational marijuana, and some states have already done so, so the potential for stupid accidents is likely to increase.

 

It is possible for some people to confuse a railroad right-of-way with a street intersection depending on various circumstances such as:

 

* visual impairment from various causes

* mental confusion or inattention

* unfamiliarity with the area

* decreased visibility at night

* general stupidity, etc

  

I wouldn't advocate a swing gate at every crossing.  I do think that it would be advisable along heavily traveled commuter lines.  The Metro North collision might have been prevented earlier this year with a gate.  

 

I also think that it would be advisable on freight lines in the middle of towns and on other heavily traveled roads.  The accident in this thread and the Oxnard accident earlier this year might have been prevented with gates.  Both accidents occurred on heavily traveled roads in towns.  A road way out in the sticks probably doesn't need this kind of protection.  

 

As for who is going to pay - I think that a combination of the towns, states and railroads should fund the projects.  Our governments and corporations always have enough money for what many of us would consider a waste of money.  You can find multiple examples every day.  

 

The first comments people make when someone proposes spending on improving safety is:  Who is going to pay?  and We can't afford it.

 

It is interesting that the loss of life, the injuries, and the damage to track and equipment is never counted as a cost when calculating the price of safety.  How much money is spent on treating people in hospitals and replacing engines and equipment when a train hits a vehicle?  Train crews are scarred for life when they watch people die in front of their eyes.  Don't forget the law suits.  They amount to millions more.  Someone pays even if the injured person is at fault.  

 

People are always going to make mistakes.  We have the tools to prevent many of the accidents that happen because of stupidity and just plain old mistakes.  Let's start spending on preventing not fixing. It will far less expensive in the long term.

 

Joe

 

 

Joe, I think you seriously underestimate the number of grade crossings in America. In the FRA inventory from 2014, there were over 200,000 grade crossing in the US. Now, many of them are isolated (such as within railroad yards, container facilities, and other non-public property) but you get the idea.

It's wholly unrealistic to do anything more than put a warning sign on many of them, especially the extreme rural ones or those on lightly-travelled lines.

But even if you did, I promise you, you won't prevent accidents like the one in this thread. Even in Europe, where grade crossing as much fewer, they still have these things happen there too.

Like they told me in the Army; if you make something idiot-proof, someone will simply create a bigger idiot.

What's  scary is.. there still lots of high speed main line road crossings in rural areas with just the old cross bucks. I think when a person takes a driving test they should have to go over a railway crossing. If they don't  slow down or look both ways an automatic failure. got to start someplace.

Heck, I never left the parking lot when I took my driver's test when I was 16. Had to re-take the written exam when I moved to another state, but that 20 minutes was the only time anyone tested my driving skills. And we weren't within 15 miles of an RR tracks at the time.

I've never thought the DMV takes driver certification all that seriously.

i think the survival of the fittest should come into play here. why are we worried about these extremely stupid people and why do the rest of us have to pay to keep idiots safe.

read the instructions that come with equipment today why do you have to think of bizarre circumstances and tell idiots not to do that. i recently purchased a new large sandblast cabinet one of the warnings do not open mail with the sandblaster really! a neighbor of mine in Tn decided to cut a large branch off his tree he leaned the ladder against the branch he was cutting and ladder fell when the branch was cut through so now we shouldn't sell ladders or saw?? another neighbor bought a table saw he decided not to install the guard as he didn't need that nor did he need his index finger and thumb. if you are that stupid you don't need a car and look at that reporter standing close to the tracks why bother thinking it gives me a headache.

Yes, I can still remember from my Driver Ed days that there was next to nothing on the testing regarding RR crossings.

 

At any rate, my state, and I suspect others as well, require neither a general intelligence or psychiatric evaluation to obtain a driver's license.

AMEN.

The problem with just letting idiots suffer the consequences of their actions is that they quite often take out innocent people as well.  In the Oxnard, CA crash the idiot who caused the crash wasn't hurt, but his actions caused the death of the engineer of the train.

 

Stuart

 

 

And who exactly do you think is gonna pay for those crossings?

       
       


The only instance I can think of is paved light rail trackage.  (I never really understood why light rail tracks in reserved ROW areas get paved; it just seems like a waste of money and resources).  I could see how that could be mistaken for a street if you aren't paying attention to the signs.

I hope they took her license away.