Are people always stupid near trains?

fgcason said:
No.
How about something that is not a lazy self absorbed selfish person sitting in the driver seat? The entire universe is not obligated to get out of their way.

Look at what is behind you THEN move. It really is that simple.
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Why is there a risk created by a child behind the car?
 
Bob Noel said:
Why is there a risk created by a child behind the car?
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Do you really have to ask? Are implying that parents should watch there children during every waking hour like a helicopter?
 
I have to agree with the dumbing down comment. People in my area (central/western NJ) don't seem to recollect driving is a privilege, not a right. Complacency shows as well, and while it's great to have so many advances in safety technology available, I think it serves to let dumber people get away with dumber stuff.
I started testing and qualifying firefighters on our engine when I was 19, and the job went to someone else three years later when I left for a new adventure. I had kept in touch with a few of the guys, and they were bickering that some members who were qualified on the engine did not seem to keep up with our standards. Upon my return, I found a cheat sheet (applicable to flowing water) and an engine with scratches and third-time-replaced mirrors. Somewhere along the way, standards dropped and complacency filled in. People (generally) will always go for the easy way, but that is not always the best way.
 
The idea of a backup camera is nice but... I recently rented a car that had one. Put the car in reverse and looked in the mirror. It took a couple of seconds to figure out what the blur in the mirror was. Then when I concentrated on the spot to the exclusion of everything else I could make out the objects behind the car. After a 2 hour drive on sloppy roads, the backup blur was only a blur that got in the way of really using the mirror. During the bright sunny day the picture was pretty much useless due to a washed out look. This was in a Chevy Traverse. I wasn't all that impressed. I think it might have been better if the picture wasn't displayed on the review mirror, and you live where it doesn't snow and melt alot.
Barb
 
You either got a dud or a dirty lens. The GM cameras work very nicely and the images are crisp.
One Short said:
The idea of a backup camera is nice but... I recently rented a car that had one. Put the car in reverse and looked in the mirror. It took a couple of seconds to figure out what the blur in the mirror was. Then when I concentrated on the spot to the exclusion of everything else I could make out the objects behind the car. After a 2 hour drive on sloppy roads, the backup blur was only a blur that got in the way of really using the mirror. During the bright sunny day the picture was pretty much useless due to a washed out look. This was in a Chevy Traverse. I wasn't all that impressed. I think it might have been better if the picture wasn't displayed on the review mirror, and you live where it doesn't snow and melt alot.
Barb
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wabower said:
You either got a dud or a dirty lens. The GM cameras work very nicely and the images are crisp.
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My bet is a dirty lens. We have that problem with the Jeep, as well. A quick wipe-down of the lens on the camera fixes it, and a quick drive down a wet street makes a mess all over again. :D
 
I recall, working as a paramedic in the midwest many years ago, responding to two car-train crashes. In one, there was little left of the driver. In the other, she was basically fine. I remember asking her what the hell she was thinking. I mean, it was in Iowa, you could see about a mile in either direction, I just couldn't fathom how you could miss a train.

Geoffrey hit the nail on the head. "Oh, they come through here all the time, I thought it was going slower than it really was."
 
My uncle is a conductor with a freight train company. He said that when people are hired or moved into the engineer positions, they tell them that at some point in their career they will kill somebody with their train. And they just have to accept that.

I think dealing with train crossings is a lot like flying. Ultimately they are pretty safe but if you make a big enough mistake the penalty is very high.
 
Pedestrians have not respect for any kind of vehicle. They are not taught when they are young to respect automobiles. As a consequence, a child continues to play in the driveway even after the car is started. And where are the parents in this? They'll play in the road forcing the driver (who also has little respect for the 3,000 pound vehicle they are driving) to drive around them into oncoming traffic. People will cross multiple lanes of traffic when a perfectly good light controlled crosswalk is but 100 feet down the road. They walk behind vehicles backing up all the time even with these in motion; with backup lights and alarms.
And have you oticed that police and emergency vehicles light up 10 times brighter than the midday sun and still, people don't get out of their way.
So FORCE ME to pay for a backup camera. Why can't the drivers clear the area before starting up? Turn their heads around instead of looking in the mirrors? Teach people there's a real danger playing chicken?
Yeah, it's worth it.
 
Pi1otguy said:
Do you really have to ask? Are implying that parents should watch there children during every waking hour like a helicopter?
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What's wrong with running over a few kids here and there? No shortage of them around. Why are they 'precious'? What function do they serve?
 
Henning said:
What's wrong with running over a few kids here and there? No shortage of them around. Why are they 'precious'? What function do they serve?
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I hope you're being sarcastic. If not you obviously don't have any children of your own. I have four and there is NOTHING more precious.
 
Probably not. We could imbed chips into the kids and force parents to wear underwear with a shocking device enmeshed in certain areas.
Bob Noel said:
Are backup cameras the only means of preventing that kind of accident?

Are backup cameras the most effectiveness means?
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What do you think is better? I've been looking for a replacement vehicle (Yukon XL) for some time with an installed camera, they are difficult to find.
 
Everskyward said:
Wouldn't you notice if this came up behind you?
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AS others have intimated, the guy had an altered mental state. I would estimate about 15% of rampers have a disqualifying habit.

We had one in PIA who got fired on his DAY OFF, came in for a TSA mandatory, got randomed, and VOILA~! positive.

Unbelievable....
 
This is a short 5 sec video that a lot of railroads and public schools show. It actually happened and I've seen it about 10 times at railroad events

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w612s5faYtE

The woman did not survive. The point was that a train can come from any direction at any time.
 
bigblockz8 said:
This is a short 5 sec video that a lot of railroads and public schools show. It actually happened and I've seen it about 10 times at railroad events

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w612s5faYtE

The woman did not survive. The point was that a train can come from any direction at any time.
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Sure... just see that sequence in "Wrongfully Accused" where Leslie Nielsen is being chased by a train that hides behind a rock.

 
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Swampfox201 said:
I hope you're being sarcastic. If not you obviously don't have any children of your own. I have four and there is NOTHING more precious.
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To you, not to humanity, to the rest of us you have created an excessive burden on dwindling resources especially with 4.
 
One Short said:
The idea of a backup camera is nice but... I recently rented a car that had one. Put the car in reverse and looked in the mirror. It took a couple of seconds to figure out what the blur in the mirror was.
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OMG... I can't believe I am reading this thread today.

Yesterday - YESTERDAY - my car's backup camera saved a life. And lest you think I am over-dramatizing, here's the story:

I stopped at the UPS store to grab the stuff from the mailbox. Went back out to my car. Van next to me, two folks with their five kids. I wait patiently for them to load them all up, specifically because the last thing I want is to run over one. Five young kids is a lot to handle! I then ask if all of them are loaded up safely, saying I wouldn't want to run over one of them. They confirm. They go the other side of their van, I get into my car, put it in reverse, and look in the camera screen...

Holy mother of god, one of their girls somehow got out and was standing right behind my car!

With heart racing, I put the car back in park, closed my eyes for a second to get my breathing back, turned off the car, opened the door, and stepped outside as calmly as I could (my legs were shaking I can tell you). As I was doing that, the mom comes running behind the van waving her hands and shouting... would have been far too late but for that camera.

This happened yesterday. I have a Mercedes, and the image is pretty darn clear. And I thank my pilot training because it was easy for me to incorporate the camera into my scan after I got the car (first time I ever have one of these).

EDIT: the little girl was maybe 3. She was short, and I could not see her with any of the mirrors, only the camera.
 
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silver-eagle said:
Pedestrians have not respect for any kind of vehicle. They are not taught when they are young to respect automobiles. As a consequence, a child continues to play in the driveway even after the car is started. And where are the parents in this? They'll play in the road forcing the driver (who also has little respect for the 3,000 pound vehicle they are driving) to drive around them into oncoming traffic. People will cross multiple lanes of traffic when a perfectly good light controlled crosswalk is but 100 feet down the road. They walk behind vehicles backing up all the time even with these in motion; with backup lights and alarms.
And have you oticed that police and emergency vehicles light up 10 times brighter than the midday sun and still, people don't get out of their way.
So FORCE ME to pay for a backup camera. Why can't the drivers clear the area before starting up? Turn their heads around instead of looking in the mirrors? Teach people there's a real danger playing chicken?
Yeah, it's worth it.
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The worst offenders are bicyclists. They travel in packs and arrogantly take up an entire lane despite the 4-foot shoulder. They don't stop at stop signs, and sometimes they don't stop at traffic lights either. I have seen them flipping off our fire engine, en-route to an emergency flipping us the single finger wave as we pass their flock of morons in the opposing lanes of traffic, and they were the only obstacles in our lane. Arrogance at its worst, IMHO.

Henning said:
There was one lucky dude....
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Lucky, but just as stupid for being that close to begin with. Bells, lights, and whistles are there to warn of impending danger/doom, yet both of those idiots chose to ignore them.
 
airbornejohnny said:
Lucky, but just as stupid for being that close to begin with. Bells, lights, and whistles are there to warn of impending danger/doom, yet both of those idiots chose to ignore them.
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:confused: Didn't you read the story? 41 year old woman walking with her lawyer discussing her divorce. I'm talking about her soon to be ex husband now widower.
 
airbornejohnny said:
The worst offenders are bicyclists. They travel in packs and arrogantly take up an entire lane despite the 4-foot shoulder.
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That is called survival. Even if there is a 4ft wide shoulder, usually no more than the first 8-10 inches is actually rideable as the rest is covered in debris like glass, nails, rocks, etc that you probably don't see from your car. If you ride right on the side of the line, people will pass you without moving over and riders have been clipped by mirrors to the helmet or worse.


airbornejohnny said:
They don't stop at stop signs, and sometimes they don't stop at traffic lights either.
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Plenty of motorists are guilty of the exact same things. See this for instance. almost 5 minutes of cars rolling through or hardly even slowing down for a stop sign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpRfUh1Dzlw There's a couple of bikes that roll through in the video, but far more cars rolling through the stop. And here's one of cars blowing red lights, just in case you think cyclists are the only ones doing that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVuEQyZKsQg&feature=related

airbornejohnny said:
I have seen them flipping off our fire engine, en-route to an emergency flipping us the single finger wave as we pass their flock of morons in the opposing lanes of traffic, and they were the only obstacles in our lane. Arrogance at its worst, IMHO.
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That is inexcusable...
 
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Henning said:
To you, not to humanity, to the rest of us you have created an excessive burden on dwindling resources especially with 4.
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And you sir have done the world a favor by not having any.
 
airbornejohnny said:
The worst offenders are bicyclists. They travel in packs and arrogantly take up an entire lane despite the 4-foot shoulder. They don't stop at stop signs, and sometimes they don't stop at traffic lights either. I have seen them flipping off our fire engine, en-route to an emergency flipping us the single finger wave as we pass their flock of morons in the opposing lanes of traffic, and they were the only obstacles in our lane. Arrogance at its worst, IMHO.
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There are a couple of groups in NJ that do all this. It's not so bad in the rest of the USA

Speed said:
That is called survival. Even if there is a 4ft wide shoulder, usually no more than the first 8-10 inches is actually rideable as the rest is covered in debris like glass, nails, rocks, etc that you probably don't see from your car. If you ride right on the side of the line, people will pass you without moving over and riders have been clipped by mirrors to the helmet or worse <SNIP>
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I used to live in NJ and there are some people on bicycles that act foolishly. There are some roads that probably weren't widened since they were established as postal routes between New York City and Philadelphia by the king. They have a lot of traffic during "rush hour", and the Delaware bike trail is a couple of hundred yards east of the road, but people insist on riding on the that road during rush hour, sometimes in large groups. It may be their right to use the road at that time, but it isn't smart.

I'm guessing AirborneJohn uses Route 206 somewhere near the Princeton area- the shoulder on that road is actually quite usable for bicycles and leads to the roads that parallel the Millstone river where I've seen this behavior.
 
Speed said:
That is called survival. Even if there is a 4ft wide shoulder, usually no more than the first 8-10 inches is actually rideable as the rest is covered in debris like glass, nails, rocks, etc that you probably don't see from your car. If you ride right on the side of the line, people will pass you without moving over and riders have been clipped by mirrors to the helmet or worse.
I am well aware of some debris, but none which impedes a bicycle. I call this the "but I'm a pu!%y" excuse. I rode bikes before I got a drivers license, and still occasionally do and have yet to come across debris that would create such a hazard.

Plenty of motorists are guilty of the exact same things. See this for instance. almost 5 minutes of cars rolling through or hardly even slowing down for a stop sign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpRfUh1Dzlw There's a couple of bikes that roll through in the video, but far more cars rolling through the stop. And here's one of cars blowing red lights, just in case you think cyclists are the only ones doing that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVuEQyZKsQg&feature=related
I never said cars don't do that. I have personally helped treat a bicyclist after being hit by a car. The guy on the bike (in his 40's) did not think the red light applied to him as he was not considered a motor vehicle. Hopefully he reflected on that at the ER when they put his leg and arm in casts.


That is inexcusable...
Damn right.
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My point is not to pick on bicyclists, just to use them as another example (although I am guilty of generalizing even non-offenders:rolleyes:) of just how stupid people can be, and are. Mandating safety features is great until people think they can get away with stupidity because they have whatever safety features required.
4-wheel drive, ABS and airbags...STILL cannot fix stupid
http://ilpvideo.com/video.php?v=MzE0NzI


 
Cap'n Jack said:
There are a couple of groups in NJ that do all this. It's not so bad in the rest of the USA


I used to live in NJ and there are some people on bicycles that act foolishly. There are some roads that probably weren't widened since they were established as postal routes between New York City and Philadelphia by the king. They have a lot of traffic during "rush hour", and the Delaware bike trail is a couple of hundred yards east of the road, but people insist on riding on the that road during rush hour, sometimes in large groups. It may be their right to use the road at that time, but it isn't smart.

I'm guessing AirborneJohn uses Route 206 somewhere near the Princeton area- the shoulder on that road is actually quite usable for bicycles and leads to the roads that parallel the Millstone river where I've seen this behavior.
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I have been through Princeton and you are correct about 206, but I am referring to Warren, Liberty Corner, Martinsville, Lambertville, Bedminster, etc. on county roads and township roads. I grew up in the general area, and it was MUCH quieter 20/25 years ago. Even back then, riding a bike on some of those roads was asking for trouble. Even worse around there now, some of the towns have bicycle-specific lanes, which along more generally treacherous areas (like blind hills/curves) provide a separate area, basically a really wide sidewalk, but paved, just for bikes, and I still have yet to see people actually use them. Another use of money in the interest of safety proving useless due to non-use.
 
Trains, spinning propellers same thing. Haven't been around long enough to be scary, maybe we should paint snakes on everything dangerous...
 
Speed said:
That is called survival. Even if there is a 4ft wide shoulder, usually no more than the first 8-10 inches is actually rideable as the rest is covered in debris like glass, nails, rocks, etc that you probably don't see from your car. If you ride right on the side of the line, people will pass you without moving over and riders have been clipped by mirrors to the helmet or worse.
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Worse than being plowed straight up the a$$? We're on a 2 lane road with a shoulder, 45 mph winding country road in the Ozarks. I come through a bend going uphill and you're in the middle of the lane going slow and there is a semi or any mass as large or larger than you, who do you think is going to die in the next 3 seconds? I have come ohhh so damned close and clipped both my mirrors on the truck and the bike in my VW Rabbit in that exact scenario.

I don't mind bicyclists in the middle of a lane and if I've got another to move over I will; even if I don't I'll give you at least 5 ft by taking the yellow line line if you take the white. However if you ride blithely in the road, don't come whining when you bounce off my windshield. I do what I can to avoid, but bicyclists have to do their part as well. Also, if you're gonna ride in traffic, you best be peddling your a$$ off, no coasting unless the you're already at traffic speed. I don't ride a lot but I do some, and this is what I do, and I never mimic the arrogance I see from some riders.
 
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Henning said:
To you, not to humanity, to the rest of us you have created an excessive burden on dwindling resources especially with 4.
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Why do I get the feeling that Henning wrote the book "How to Make Friends and Influence People"?
 
Piloto said:
Trains have pneumatic brakes on every car that activates simultaneously since the late 1800s. More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_air_brake

José
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Well, close, but not entirely. Train brakes come on sequentially, from the front of the train to the rear. When the engineer reduces the pressure in the "train line", the air line that supplies air throughout the train, it sends a signal to each car to begin allowing air from reservoirs on each car to begin flowing into the actuator cylinder to apply mechanical force to the brake shoes/wheels. Because the pressure reduction starts at the front, it takes some time for the pressure reduction to reach the rear of the train and apply the brakes. Correspondingly it takes time for the brakes to release as well.
If a train goes into an emergency application "big holed" and the train has a device on the rear car that reports train line pressure to the locomotive as well as receives commands, then big holing the train will also vent the train line from the rear. This applies the brakes from both ends at once. It not only speeds the process, but it also stretches the train, reduces the likelihood of a derailment due to the slack in the train "running in" suddenly. the term "big hole" comes from the fact that the venting of the air in the train line is not metered, but is "dumped" through a "big hole". As cold as it may seem, a train loaded with hazardous materials, like a few tank cars of methyl ethyl death, may not big hole the train in a futile attempt to keep from hitting a vehicle or trespasser on the tracks if the risk of a derailment is great, and the risk of greater loss of life exists.
I have been on 20,000 ton coal trains more than 8,000 feet long, running 50 mph when they went into emergency, and let me tell you it is scary slow to decelerate. Once big holed, it just keeps on going the same speed for what seems like forever before you see the slightest hint in deceleration. Add in a (slight) downgrade and it could take 2 miles to stop.

Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
I take it that none of you live in an area full of trains and switch yards.

It doesn't take long to learn to really hate trains and the arrogant way that they are operated.

And, it doesn't take long to figure out that if you don't get across in front of the train, you could be in for a 30 - 60 minute wait. And, it's not unusual for a gate to be down all day with no trains around.

Even if it's just a single engine and no cars, you don't assume that there won't be a wait because there is a chance that the engine will stop in the in intersection to wait while someone does something somewhere else.

You get complacent.

Big surprise.
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In every state, the law states "motorists shall stop not closer than 15 feet from the near rail and not farther that 50 feet from the near rail and proceed when safe to do so". Do you do this at every crossing? Didn't think so, but then neither do I, and I should know better. Like the guys that move near the airport and complain of the noise, your options are limited. Learn to be patient, or alter your driving patterns. Almost every city/town has ordinances that prohibit trains from blocking crossings of public through fares for more than a few minutes (5 or 15) because is can block emergency vehicles from responding to their duties. If you see a train stopped for a while longer than you think is legal, call the cops. They will ticket the crew, usually the conductor, who does not operate the engine, but is administratively in charge of the train. A stationary train, like an airliner on the ground is not producing revenue. Arrogance is not in the equation.

And yes, people are stupid around trains. As expert witnesses we have drawers and drawers of photos of dead men, women and children to prove that. It makes you physically sick to see the carnage caused by inattentiveness/cellphones, and just stupid bravado on the part of drivers and pedestrians alike, and don't get me started bout iPods and earphones and trains. Trains chop you up like a butcher gone mad. Many times the police report indicates that the responders were unable to locate all the pieces and returned in the daylight to complete the grisly job. The emotional effect on a train crew that just killed a family is something to behold as well. These guys carry that with them the rest of their lives.
 
Keith Lane said:
Almost every city/town has ordinances that prohibit trains from blocking crossings of public through fares for more than a few minutes (5 or 15) because is can block emergency vehicles from responding to their duties.
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10 minutes around here. Routinely ignored.

If you see a train stopped for a while longer than you think is legal, call the cops.
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BTDT. You need the time, the engine number, the train line, etc. So if you didn't get there when the engine crossed, it's a waste of time.

They will ticket the crew, usually the conductor, who does not operate the engine, but is administratively in charge of the train.
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Doesn't seem to be an issue for them.

Arrogance is not in the equation.
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Ok, splain this - a single engine is approaching a crossing. The gates come down, the engine slows down to a walk. A guy hops off, the engine keeps rolling until it is on the grade crossing where it stops to block the road. Traffic back up. After a while, the guy who had hopped off to fiddle with something wanders back to the engine and the engine drives away.

Seemed pretty obvious that the engine driver didn't really care about anyone else around.

And yes, people are stupid around trains. As expert witnesses we have drawers and drawers of photos of dead men, women and children to prove that.
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A local kid just got hit just a couple days ago walking down the tracks with head phones on. Currently in critical condition.
 
One engineer on the Santa Fe was known for his somewhat-inept handling of train air and slack. When we switched the chemical plant in Borger, it was rumored that he could stop the train and cut all three street crossings with one application of the air.

Keith Lane said:
Well, close, but not entirely. Train brakes come on sequentially, from the front of the train to the rear. When the engineer reduces the pressure in the "train line", the air line that supplies air throughout the train, it sends a signal to each car to begin allowing air from reservoirs on each car to begin flowing into the actuator cylinder to apply mechanical force to the brake shoes/wheels. Because the pressure reduction starts at the front, it takes some time for the pressure reduction to reach the rear of the train and apply the brakes. Correspondingly it takes time for the brakes to release as well.
If a train goes into an emergency application "big holed" and the train has a device on the rear car that reports train line pressure to the locomotive as well as receives commands, then big holing the train will also vent the train line from the rear. This applies the brakes from both ends at once. It not only speeds the process, but it also stretches the train, reduces the likelihood of a derailment due to the slack in the train "running in" suddenly. the term "big hole" comes from the fact that the venting of the air in the train line is not metered, but is "dumped" through a "big hole". As cold as it may seem, a train loaded with hazardous materials, like a few tank cars of methyl ethyl death, may not big hole the train in a futile attempt to keep from hitting a vehicle or trespasser on the tracks if the risk of a derailment is great, and the risk of greater loss of life exists.
I have been on 20,000 ton coal trains more than 8,000 feet long, running 50 mph when they went into emergency, and let me tell you it is scary slow to decelerate. Once big holed, it just keeps on going the same speed for what seems like forever before you see the slightest hint in deceleration. Add in a (slight) downgrade and it could take 2 miles to stop.



In every state, the law states "motorists shall stop not closer than 15 feet from the near rail and not farther that 50 feet from the near rail and proceed when safe to do so". Do you do this at every crossing? Didn't think so, but then neither do I, and I should know better. Like the guys that move near the airport and complain of the noise, your options are limited. Learn to be patient, or alter your driving patterns. Almost every city/town has ordinances that prohibit trains from blocking crossings of public through fares for more than a few minutes (5 or 15) because is can block emergency vehicles from responding to their duties. If you see a train stopped for a while longer than you think is legal, call the cops. They will ticket the crew, usually the conductor, who does not operate the engine, but is administratively in charge of the train. A stationary train, like an airliner on the ground is not producing revenue. Arrogance is not in the equation.

And yes, people are stupid around trains. As expert witnesses we have drawers and drawers of photos of dead men, women and children to prove that. It makes you physically sick to see the carnage caused by inattentiveness/cellphones, and just stupid bravado on the part of drivers and pedestrians alike, and don't get me started bout iPods and earphones and trains. Trains chop you up like a butcher gone mad. Many times the police report indicates that the responders were unable to locate all the pieces and returned in the daylight to complete the grisly job. The emotional effect on a train crew that just killed a family is something to behold as well. These guys carry that with them the rest of their lives.
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Keith Lane said:
As cold as it may seem, a train loaded with hazardous materials, like a few tank cars of methyl ethyl death, may not big hole the train in a futile attempt to keep from hitting a vehicle or trespasser on the tracks if the risk of a derailment is great, and the risk of greater loss of life exists.
I have been on 20,000 ton coal trains more than 8,000 feet long, running 50 mph when they went into emergency, and let me tell you it is scary slow to decelerate. Once big holed, it just keeps on going the same speed for what seems like forever before you see the slightest hint in deceleration. Add in a (slight) downgrade and it could take 2 miles to stop.
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I would expect standard dynamic (if equipped), unit and train brakes set and then ducking out of the path of injury by the crew regardless the load due to the risk to themselves. They are not required to sacrifice themselves to the stupidity of others. By the time we're of driving age each and everyone of us knows well the danger of being hit by a train and how to avoid it. I hit 7 moose with a Sperry car in 2 days of running light from Souix Lookout to Thunder Bay, hell of an intro to running in Canada.

The CN also sent me to Gimli. The superintendent (who loved riding the Sperry car) sent me off with the advisory, "When you see the tits, hit the brakes." lol. I wonder if they still use that simulation.
 
Keith Lane said:
In every state, the law states "motorists shall stop not closer than 15 feet from the near rail and not farther that 50 feet from the near rail and proceed when safe to do so".
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I actually stop farther back than that. About 8 years ago I saw the aftermath of a derailment of one of the coal trains that go back and forth on the local tracks. Apparently the train car had derailed up the track a bit from the grade crossing, and when the car hit the crossing, well that is when things went from bad to worse. Train cars were all over the place, including one that took out the crossing guards and would have creamed a car that was waiting for the train. Luckily the derailment happend in the wee hours of the morning, so nobody was waiting for the train. Now I stop about 100 feet or so back from the crossing guard.
 
Keith Lane said:
In every state, the law states "motorists shall stop not closer than 15 feet from the near rail and not farther that 50 feet from the near rail and proceed when safe to do so". Do you do this at every crossing? Didn't think so, but then neither do I
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What do you mean? Stop at every crossing no matter what? Or stop between 15 and 50 feet when the lights are on?

Like the guys that move near the airport and complain of the noise, your options are limited. Learn to be patient, or alter your driving patterns..
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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.

But you do get complacent - and that is a bad thing.

You have to be careful to not assume that just because the gate is down and you don't see a train it doesn't automatically mean that the gate is malfunctioning again. 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). Getting used to going around crossing gates is not a good thing. (They do seem to have gotten better in recent years about fixing the gates so they actually go up when there is no train.)
 
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?...
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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.
 
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.

But you do get complacent - and that is a bad thing.

You have to be careful to not assume that just because the gate is down and you don't see a train it doesn't automatically mean that the gate is malfunctioning again. 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). Getting used to going around crossing gates is not a good thing. (They do seem to have gotten better in recent years about fixing the gates so they actually go up when there is no train.)
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To force those gates down all some kid has to do is lay a conductor across the rails between the insulated joints.
 
A good friend specialized in defending the Class 1 railroad crossing accident lawsuits for many years. He was a great guy to hunt with, and I never had to worry about forgetting about an unguarded crossing.
 
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