Darwin Candidate?

[Richard in Smithville]

You've heard of people being this dumb, perhaps seen something on tv, but this is the first time I've seen it. The other day when I was out and about, I stopped in line when the gates were down at a RR crossing. Well, people decided to drive around the barriers. There is a traffic light just passed the tracks and traffic stopped with one vehicle on the tracks.....and the train was coming! He couldn't pull forward or back because of traffic! Fortunately someone moved in such a way that he could clear the track-barely. This could have been much worse. I hope he learned his lesson and had to steam clean his shorts and seat!

[Mr__Bill]

Don't ya just hate it when that happens and you don't have a video camera?

I wonder though if a lesson was learned to not do it, or that someone will always pull your bacon from the fire, and next time he does it again. LOML was on a train and as it approached Eugene several intoxicated individuals decided to cross the tracks ahead of it. One didn't make it. This was an Amtrak passenger train and would be by in a few seconds. I could see how a 20 min wait for a freight train might induce someone to try it but even then you have to be really foolish.


Bill

[Pappy]

I hope he learned a lesson but more likely he went bragging to his buddies about how he beat the train.

I had an uncle try to beat a freight train when I was a kid. He was drunk and and had his two younger sisters with him. He walked away but the older sister, in the front seat with him, was killed. The younger sister was in the back seat and survived but was in the hospital for over a month. As religious as my mother was, she never forgave him.

[cabinetman]

I remember this incident like it happened yesterday. TV coverage was on all the local channels for hours. It was one of those situations where a signal light was close to the tracks. Besides being just a highly traveled road, the signal light was an intersection to a hotel.

The blaze was so extensive that the grounds leading up to the hotel entrance was burned out. Those poor people that got caught had no where to go.
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[BobSch]

There is a traffic light just passed the tracks and traffic stopped with one vehicle on the tracks.....and the train was coming! He couldn't pull forward or back because of traffic! Fortunately someone moved in such a way that he could clear the track-barely. This could have been much worse. I hope he learned his lesson and had to steam clean his shorts and seat!

We've got an intersection/track situation like that near us. The city decided to flaunt Darwin by clearing the tracks. They set up the stop lights to turn green when a train is coming. Almost every time we're stopped there is some idiot with his butt on the tracks.

[MilDoc]

I have 1 crossing on the way to work. just beyond it is a red light. Few weeks ago 1 car stopped at the light and another stopped just behind. Off the tracks, ye, but under the crossing barrier. When it came down it hit his trunk and did a lot of damage before it actually broke!

[BobSch]

I have 1 crossing on the way to work. just beyond it is a red light. Few weeks ago 1 car stopped at the light and another stopped just behind. Off the tracks, ye, but under the crossing barrier. When it came down it hit his trunk and did a lot of damage before it actually broke!

That's strange. Around here the crossing arms are gravity operated. A motor-operated cam allows the arm to come down but it will stop if something is obstructing it.

[atgcpaul]

We have a crossing a couple of blocks from our house. I cross it every day
to get to work and it's a busy crossing--commuter rail and freight. All the
fatalities in the past four years I've been here are people crossing the tracks
on foot and not by car.

I can *almost* feel for this stuck driver. On one side of the tracks, there's a
traffic light that will accommodate ~5 cars between the gates and the
intersection. The road that leads up to it is steep and you can't tell if there
are cars stopped at the light or not. As you crest the rails, it's possible you
could get stuck if the person behind you is following close and the light is red.

Sure, lot's of stupid things happen at railroad crossings. I think the underlying
problem is people these days tend to follow too close. I know I do it. There's
less reason to do it when there's only one lane in each direction like this but
on the highway, if you don't someone is bound to jump in that gap and cut
you off.

Try counting 2 seconds next time you're on the road. That's a big gap.

[chopnhack]

That is scary as all heck...not to second guess, but if your in a tanker truck and stuck in traffic, why not just push traffic forward? I am sure the rig can "move" the cars in front of it. Much better to pay a small fine for the damages involved versus the train smacking the cargo and setting everything a blaze! Not saying that he had time to react, but around here the trains crawl to about 3-5 miles an hour tops before crossing. I have seen at times, people cross the road and almost outpace the train.

[cabinetman]

That's strange. Around here the crossing arms are gravity operated. A motor-operated cam allows the arm to come down but it will stop if something is obstructing it.

There were some crossings around here that had a steel rod pivoting from the bottom of the arm that would drop as the arm came down. It was about 2' from the end and would stop on the ground for arm support.

I bet a lot of cars caught that in their hood.
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