STUPID CAR !

@Arthur P. Bloom posted:

Gary Indiana headline: "Three people are killed after the car they were in collided with a train."

"...after a car tried to beat a freight train..."

Always blame the car, which must have had a mind of its own, rather than a "driver" who was (probably) at fault.

Another case of "Journalism is dead'! Just reported on WLSTV in Chicago, witness said, "The driver went around the lower gates".  We are truly surrounded by idiots.

Problems of liability crop up if the reporter blames the driver before an investigation is conducted. Yes, I agree, most likely it was the driver being stupid. But until other causes are ruled out (vehicle malfunction, driver medical situation, crossing gate malfunction), it's better not to assign responsibility.

After a century of trains and cars coexisting, you might think people would have learned not to "run the gates" at RR crossings.

Every 90 minutes in the US, a train impacts either a vehicle or a pedestrian. I don't think any amount of warning devices will fix stupidity and hubris. I am a trained Operation Lifesaver volunteer. Though Covid has prevented in person presentations in schools and the like, I am hoping to be able to make perhaps a minor dent in these statistics in the future.

One of the most common causes is impatience on a two track grade crossing where the driver goes as soon as one train passes and gets creamed by the train entering the crossing on the other track.

Paul

Good comment on two track grade crossings, one train let it be Westbound clears the crossing gate down and signals flashing, a driver gets inpatient and goes around the center barriers crossing on the grade crossing and gets a side impact from the Eastbound train. IF THE GATES ARE DOWN AND THE SIGNALS FLASHING DO NOT GO AROUND THE BARRIERS, IF EQUIPPED, AND FOUL THE TRACK SPACE, YOU MAY BE PAYING FOR YOUR IMPATIENCE AND POSSIBLY YOUR FAMILY WITH YOUR LIFE AND THEIR LIFE. I have worked for a railroad and have seen the result of this impatience believe me not a pleasant sight. In fatal grade crossing accidents, either by a person going around lowered gates or barriers, if installed, or by a person committing suicide the engineer and conductor(if present in the cab) are witnessing a person(s) being killed, they are also victims in these situations.

@West Side Joe posted:

Problems of liability crop up if the reporter blames the driver before an investigation is conducted.

According to this evenings WLSTV news reports, the reporter on the scene only quoted the witness (more than one) that stated, "The driver drove around the lowered gates.".

Yes, I agree, most likely it was the driver being stupid.

Ya think?????

But until other causes are ruled out (vehicle malfunction, driver medical situation, crossing gate malfunction), it's better not to assign responsibility.

So,,,,,,,,,,you are saying that the many witnesses did NOT actually see what they saw?????

There's probably a very short list of things that could make this the train engineer's fault.  However, unless the report is refuted, "driving around the lowered gates", I really doubt it's the RR or engineer's fault.

@Railrunnin posted:

One of the most common causes is impatience on a two track grade crossing where the driver goes as soon as one train passes and gets creamed by the train entering the crossing on the other track.

Paul

Even those who should know better. Horn blowing and all.

WOW, that's stupid squared!

Don't worry, the siren and flashing lights will slow the train down. Emergency vehicles have the right of way.

I've been told by people that should know that the train wins all ties at crossings!

Yesterday’s south bound Vermonter hit a car in South Royalton, VT. (Fatally)  Just a cross buck at the grade crossing.  Can’t speak to the visibility… but those aren’t moose tracks.

Jon

@RickO posted:

Even those who should know better. Horn blowing and all.

What a shame, I hope the officer wasn't killed. 

@Allegheny posted:

What a shame, I hope the officer wasn't killed.

Well, he at least got a few bruises!   It didn't look like it crushed the cab, so hopefully he survived and learned a valuable lesson.

Yeah, that bad train ran off the tracks and flattened the car *sigh*. Kind of like the person arrested for assault saying "I put my fist out and he ran into it".

There have been times when I got a little scared with grade crossings, where a road is backed up , you have space on the other side beyond the grade crossing and then a car or two hole shot and there is no room and you are kind of hung on the grade crossing . Had that happen the other week, fortunately found room to move forward.

@John Ochab posted:

Good comment on two track grade crossings, one train let it be Westbound clears the crossing gate down and signals flashing, a driver gets inpatient and goes around the center barriers crossing on the grade crossing and gets a side impact from the Eastbound train.

That's how some friends of my parents died, except it was on BNSF's 3-track racetrack.  The wake was closed casket.

Rusty

@Hot Water posted:

Hot Water, my comment was based on the original post. You have added new information, which would have changed the nature of my response. This is why it's better to wait until all the facts are in before assigning blame.

"After a century of trains and cars coexisting, you might think people would have learned not to 'run the gates' at RR crossings."

Yeah, and after -- oh, I don't know -- maybe 100+ years of highway deaths and destruction caused by alcohol and the constant reminders not to drink and drive, people keep doing it.  And yesterday, in a town nearby, 5 people died in a fire in a multi-family house without smoke detectors, and a guy in my town, aged 68, working by himself on a roof, fell to his death. No amount of warnings, it seems, will get people to stop being self-destructive.

Latest report on Chicago's WLSTV this evening, is concentrating on "The freight train struck the car and killed all three occupants.".  Absolutely no mention of the witnesses that say she drove around the lowered gates!  

Amazing how that darned freight train swerved, struck the car, and then returned to the rails. Journalism is truly dead.