Are people always stupid near trains?

mikea said:
I have a cousin who explained why his whole family stops, looks and listens at EVERY crossing. When they were very little Dad (or Mom) drove across the tracks at a gateless crossing and the train was so close the entire car lit up white like it was the end of the world. They never forgot that.
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Reminds me of the time I almost got t-boned by a rail service vehicle (a large truck) riding the rails. I was crossing at a gateless crossing, looked for a train (BIG), didn't see one and proceeded to pull out right in front of the truck (which was small, relative to a train). It was exciting for a moment...
 
Double-track crossings are particularly dangerous. Train on closest track passes, gates still down, driver gets impatient and shoots the gap. Splat!
 
wabower said:
Double-track crossings are particularly dangerous. Train on closest track passes, gates still down, driver gets impatient and shoots the gap. Splat!
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Sometimes there is a sign that says "2 tracks" or something similar. I don't recall seeing it in every instance. Would probably be cheap insurance. If only that woman talking to her lawyer had been thinking that there was another track there, maybe she'd still be alive and her ex-husband would now be broke! (That part was just to make Henning happy! :))
 
gprellwitz said:
Sometimes there is a sign that says "2 tracks" or something similar. I don't recall seeing it in every instance. Would probably be cheap insurance. If only that woman talking to her lawyer had been thinking that there was another track there, maybe she'd still be alive and her ex-husband would now be broke! (That part was just to make Henning happy! :))
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Lol, most of the time regardless where in the world I am I'm seeing signs with graphic representation pictorial sign of how many rails are being crossed. :dunno:
 
To respond to the OP, there are some people that are stupid no matter what they are near.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
What do you mean? Stop at every crossing no matter what? Or stop between 15 and 50 feet when the lights are on?



If the train is coming out of the yard, I will usually wait. If it is going into a yard, I turn around. Depending on the crossing, it usually only takes 10-15 minutes to backtrack and go around.
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Technically, at all times, though obviously no one does it. All railroad tracks are legally private property. And you are granted permission to cross them only if done in a safe manner. If you are involved in a grade crossing accident rest assured the railroad lawyers are going to point this out to you should you or your heirs decide that somehow that train was at fault. Occasionally, we do see an accident where the railroad was at fault in some way, but in the vast, vast majority the "victim" is totally at fault.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Sometimes there is a fast moving train that is far enough away that you don't see it as you approach (particularly at crossings that are some distance from a rail yard).
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Crossing gate circuits are designed to sense the speed of an oncoming train and lower the gates a minimum of 20 seconds prior to the arrival of the train. Otherwise you'd have to set the timing for the fastest train (79 mph Amtrak). That would mean the gates would be down a long long time for a slow freight.
 
There is a crossing on Bo hill rd. in Bo Wa. that is close to a siding where we are accustom to seeing trains with there lights on simple setting on the siding waiting for the Amtrac to pass. Several times we have seen the Amtrac highballing by and the gates never come down. That crossing gets about 4 cars each year, BNSF has been told bout it time after time, but do nothing about it.
 
I cross three train tracks twice a day to get to/from work. I see people pull onto the tracks to wait for the red light to change green. I get the horn for waiting beyond the place where the bar comes down. I see people go around the gates if they don't see the train. The wierdest was the woman who drove her car into the train. How does anyone hit the FIFTH car of the train? And, when the crossing guard lights and bells were operating for over an hour with no train anywhere around, a phone call to the posted phone number was greeted with confusion and the question whether we were able to cross anyway.
 
AuntPeggy said:
I cross three train tracks twice a day to get to/from work. I see people pull onto the tracks to wait for the red light to change green. I get the horn for waiting beyond the place where the bar comes down. I see people go around the gates if they don't see the train. The wierdest was the woman who drove her car into the train. How does anyone hit the FIFTH car of the train? And, when the crossing guard lights and bells were operating for over an hour with no train anywhere around, a phone call to the posted phone number was greeted with confusion and the question whether we were able to cross anyway.
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It's more common than you may think that people drive into the middle of a train. I worked for Sperry when the caboose was getting replaced with a blinking red light and that was one of the big union arguments for keeping the van.
 
mikea said:
I have a cousin who explained why his whole family stops, looks and listens at EVERY crossing. When they were very little Dad (or Mom) drove across the tracks at a gateless crossing and the train was so close the entire car lit up white like it was the end of the world. They never forgot that.
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I don't stop, but if there's anything obstructing the view of the tracks in either direction, I'll slow down a bit and crane my neck to look both ways. You never know... gates/signal malfunction, switch malfunction, crew malfunction... never had a close call myself, but when I was a little guy I saw the aftermath of a milk truck getting hit by a freight train at a crossing in my hometown. As I recall, there was no signal or barrier then; he either stopped too close to the rails or rolled into the train as it passed (sleepy, maybe; those guys got up in the middle of the night). Anyway, it impressed me more than any safety lecture would. Didn't stop me from walking on the same right of way near my house, LOL, but we never hung out there near a bend, and every now and then we'd put an ear to the rails. I think one or two of my cronies who had watches also knew the timetables, LOL. But I often think of that poor milkman when I am approaching a crossing in a car.

Speaking of back-up cameras ( :D )... other than those rare cases where something (like a toddler) is behind the vehicle but below the rear window line(never happened to me, thank goodness)...personally, I don't have any regular desire for them unless I am driving something with no view directly behind.I say this because after years of driving various vans and box trucks, I have discovered a direct correlation between vehicle length and blind spot area to the willingness of idiots to just stroll or drive past as you back up. The worse the view behind, the more likely there will very suddenly be a car or pedestrian behind the vehicle. Every damn time. These days, I often have to take a tall 15-footer to various shopping malls, and boy does it suck when I have to back into mall lot traffic. It's amazing- and disturbing- how many people will risk an accident because the will not wait 5 seconds. They only stop if they want the space I am vacating. Darkness and weather increase the likelihood... if it's raining and dark, between the droplets on the right window and that mirror, and the glare, it can be tough seeing behind. When it's like that, people from miles around grab their babies and strollers and make a beeline for the back of the truck I'm driving... out of frikkin' nowhere. If I am parallel-parked, pedestrians must- must, I tell you, suddenly cross the street from behind the truck, the instant I put it in reverse. They drop what they're doing to go back there. Where do they all come from and how can they be so stupid?!?! :mad2:
The white lights do no good as a warning, and like car alarms, that "beep beep" backup alarm is so commonly heard now, it may as well be birdsong. I'll bet 3 out of 5 average Americans, especially if interviewed in a Wally World parking lot, would not even be able to tell you what that beeping is for ("I dunno but excuse me, I gotta run- someone's backing a truck up and I need to run behind it with my whole family, bye").

The side mirrors should be sufficient, though, if you are using both, starting the moment you put it in reverse, and you take it real slow. With a rear-view mirror and a clear view back there, same rule applies. As for the "kid playing on the ground behind the car" scenario, a camera might help with that, but what if the kid is under the car? Do we "need" under-vehicle cams too?
 
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No matter what kind of side and rearview mirrors are installed, the driver of a Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon or similar SUV simply can't see short objects behind the vehicle, especially kids. Whenever a kid is playing with a ball, you can bet whatever you're carrying that he will chase it wherever it goes.

rottydaddy said:
I don't stop, but if there's anything obstructing the view of the tracks in either direction, I'll slow down a bit and crane my neck to look both ways. You never know... gates/signal malfunction, switch malfunction, crew malfunction... never had a close call myself, but when I was a little guy I saw the aftermath of a milk truck getting hit by a freight train at a crossing in my hometown. As I recall, there was no signal or barrier then; he either stopped too close to the rails or rolled into the train as it passed (sleepy, maybe; those guys got up in the middle of the night). Anyway, it impressed me more than any safety lecture would. Didn't stop me from walking on the same right of way near my house, LOL, but we never hung out there near a bend, and every now and then we'd put an ear to the rails. I think one or two of my cronies who had watches also knew the timetables, LOL.

Speaking of back-up cameras ( :D )... other than those rare cases where something (like a toddler) is behind the vehicle but below the rear window line(never happened to me, thank goodness)...personally, I don't have any regular need for them unless I am driving something with no view directly behind.I say this because after years of driving various vans and box trucks, I have discovered a direct correlation between vehicle length and blind spot area to the willingness of idiots to just stroll or drive past as you back up. The worse the view behind, the more likely there will very suddenly be a car or pedestrian behind the vehicle. Every damn time. These days, I often have to take a tall 15-footer to various shopping malls, and boy does it suck when I have to back into mall lot traffic. It's amazing- and disturbing- how many people will risk an accident because the will not wait 5 seconds. They only stop if they want the space I am vacating. Darkness and weather increase the likelihood... if it's raining and dark, between the droplets on the right window and that mirror, and the glare, it can be tough seeing behind. When it's like that, people from miles around grab their babies and strollers and make a beeline for the back of the truck I'm driving... out of frikkin' nowhere. If I am parallel-parked, pedestrians must- must, I tell you, suddenly cross the street from behind the truck, the instant I put it in reverse. They drop what they're doing to go back there. Where do they all come from and how can they be so stupid?!?! :mad2:
The white lights do no good as a warning, and like car alarms, that "beep beep" backup alarm is so commonly heard now, it may as well be birdsong. I'll bet 3 out of 5 average Americans, especially if interviewed in a Wally World parking lot, would not even be able to tell you what that beeping is for ("I dunno but excuse me, I gotta run- someone's backing a truck up and I need to run behind it with my whole family, bye").

The side mirrors should be sufficient, though, if you are using both, starting the moment you put it in reverse, and you take it real slow. With a rear-view mirror and a clear view back there, same rule applies. As for the "kid playing on the ground behind the car" scenario, a camera might help with that, but what if the kid is under the car? Do we "need" under-vehicle cams too?
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wabower said:
No matter what kind of side and rearview mirrors are installed, the driver of a Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon or similar SUV simply can't see short objects behind the vehicle, especially kids. Whenever a kid is playing with a ball, you can bet whatever you're carrying that he will chase it wherever it goes.
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The side mirrrors will work unless the kid is there already as you begin to back up, or approaching from directly behind. Most people mistakenly adjust side mirrors to look down the side of the vehicle, and low (for parking) anyway, so if someone approaches from the side, they should be seen, even if they are short.
In the end, it takes two... driver must pay attention, kid must pay attention. The cameras should help, though- I can't argue with that. Like I said, I have yearned for such technology when driving trucks... like when I see them come in one side mirror but don't see them go. Are they still there? When will they go? what side will they be on? What the heck?! It's annoying.
And no, I don't expect kids to remember that it takes two... I have lost count of how many times I've avoided tragedy by remembering that "ball, pet, or toy crossing road means a child will dash in front of you." They really can come out of nowhere- a good reason to take it slow driving down streets with vehicles parked along the curbs. Children also follow each other into roads; as with deer, if you slow down for one, wait a sec before speeding up- there will probably be another close behind. You can't blame them, though- they are kids. And adults are supposed to realize that shaving three minutes off their commute is not worth a human sacrifice.
 
We're fortunate that our neighborhood has become a somewhat "hot area" for young up-scale families, and it's great to have the kids around to balance out the old farts. But just watching the number of street incursions is sobering, although many of them don't involve blind-side issues. Just yesterday I saw a little kid who was obviously just learning to ride his two-wheeler depart the sidewalk and veer across most of the street. I had seen him wobbling up the sidewalk and slowed to a crawl, so I just waited until he got it headed back to safety. Mom and Dad waved and gestured big thanks.

rottydaddy said:
The side mirrrors will work unless the kid is there already as you begin to back up, or approaching from directly behind. Most people mistakenly adjust side mirrors to look down the side of the vehicle, and low (for parking) anyway, so if someone approaches from the side, they should be seen, even if they are short.
In the end, it takes two... driver must pay attention, kid must pay attention. The cameras should help, though- I can't argue with that. Like I said, I have yearned for such technology when driving trucks... like when I see them come in one side mirror but don't see them go. Are they still there? When will they go? what side will they be on? What the heck?! It's annoying.
And no, I don't expect kids to remember that it takes two... I have lost count of how many times I've avoided tragedy by remembering that "ball, pet, or toy crossing road means a child will dash in front of you." They really can come out of nowhere- a good reason to take it slow driving down streets with vehicles parked along the curbs. Children also follow each other into roads; as with deer, if you slow down for one, wait a sec before speeding up- there will probably be another close behind. You can't blame them, though- they are kids. And adults are supposed to realize that shaving three minutes off their commute is not worth a human sacrifice.
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denverpilot said:
I'm sure there'll be some super-genius who'll post a comment on the article about how awful it was that they didn't stop "right away".
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Wonder why they didn't stop right away? Huh.

:rofl: :lol: :rofl: :lol:
 
denverpilot said:
Breaking news. People are still stupid.

CBSDenver:
Pedestrian hit by a train in Fort Collins, along Mason St near Magnolia St. Traffic is shut down in the area. Copter4 en route.

http://twitter.com/CBSDenver/status/179329508497817600
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If "somebody" needs a high-priced lawyer I can give him/her the name of a Fort Collins law firm which is the listed owner of the Cessna Citation that picked up "the daughter" from college here at KBXM last week. Just sayin' - - - - - -

HR
 
mikea said:
I have a cousin who explained why his whole family stops, looks and listens at EVERY crossing. When they were very little Dad (or Mom) drove across the tracks at a gateless crossing and the train was so close the entire car lit up white like it was the end of the world. They never forgot that.
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When learning to drive a stick my mother stalled out on a set of rail road tracks. Uppon seeing the train coming she paniced and couldn't get the car to move.

The train stopped for her and my dad swiched places with her and never let her drive a stick again:rofl:
 
Just last night the Amtrak Cascades train due into Portland at 9 pm hit a car at a crossing just a mile from the station. Passengers had to sit and stew on the train for two hours while tow trucks removed the car and crews made temporary repairs to a damaged switch. Then the train, with "minimal damage" to the cab car, rolled on into Portland Union Station.

The train won again.

You can't fix stupid.
 
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