Train Nearly Hits Car; Extremely Close Call

[Michigan Railfan]

I saw this posted on another forum, and thought I'd post it here. This train miraculously stops just before hitting a car on the tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNrMKxr5050

[Doneldon]

Spartan-

That almost looks like a set-up. Stopping a loco and perhaps a cuple of thousand tons of train 18 inches from an obstacle is beyond a miracle. I can't help but wonder if the engineer could have actually stopped a bit sooner but dragged it out to the last second to put the fear of running crossing lights into the complete idiot who was on the tracks. Either that or God really does look out for fools.
                                            -- D

[Michigan Railfan]

I understand your doubt; I'm still having trouble believing it! I think that'd be too big of a set up to be kept a secret. Someone surely wouldve blabbed about it if it were. The conductor cussing out the driver also seemed pretty realistic     I'm sure the train wasn't going too fast, and the engineer probably saw the car on the tracks way back... I'm sure he knew the car just wasnt going to make it off the tracks. I would've found it funny though if the train had gone just a few inches further and left a big 'ole dent in his door   

[Jhanecker2]

I hope the engineer got the drivers  license plate number and reported the incident to the local police department as well as the Michigan Secretary of State's  Office  .  The jerk needs his drivers license pulled . First of all he interfered with commercial  traffic , he recklessly endangered  everyone else in the area a well as himself
and  cost the railroad and their customers money by delaying timely delivery .  If I were the railroad  I would sue the perp.  J2.

[poliss]

"I can't help but wonder if the engineer could have actually stopped a bit sooner but dragged it out to the last second to put the fear of running crossing lights"
Not one chance in a billion that the engineer stopped so close on purpose. The bakes would have been on maximum. The driver of the car was lucky, unlike here in the UK today where someone in a car was just killed on a crossing where the train didn't manage to stop.

[jward]

there would have been no reason for the engineer to draw out his stop. first off, trains can't "RUN' crossing signals. the circuits are set up to automatically turn on the lights and lower the gates when the train gets a certain distance away from the crossing. this is usually 1000 or more feet back from the road on a mainline. you'd have to stop the train further back than that to avoid triggering the circuit.

furthermore, when an engineer puts the brakes in "emergency" he has no further control of the train until the brakes are released. the train is going to stop, because there is no longer any air in the brake lines to hold the brakes off. the only other thing he could do is to put the locomotives in dynamic brake in the hopes of stopping a few feet sooner.the effect would be similar to downshifting your car while standing on the brake pedal.

i agree that whoever stopped on the tracks should have their license suspended. there is no reason to stop on the tracks....ever. as a commercial driver, i would definitely lose my license if i ever did this.

[Doneldon]

when an engineer puts the brakes in "emergency" he has no further control of the train until the brakes are released.

jeff-

But do we know that the brakes were in emergency mode? No. I still think it's more than merely possible that the
engineer didn't need emergency brakes and just crept up as close as he could get.
                                                                                                                                        -- D

[richg]

Maybe the vehicle driver was trying to win the Darwin Award. Many have over the years. Also, you cannot fix stupid. Vehicles are being hit quite a lot at crossings. It will happen again. You cannot fix it.

Rich

[jward]

i have known many engineers over the years. most if not all of them would have "big holed" the train rather than hit a vehicle. not only do you have to live with killing somebody, because vehicles hit by trains aalmost always result in fatalities, btu you also have everybody second guessing what you did or didn't do. you will relive the incident over and over, because the lawyers will have you tiesd up in depositions for years. it's not worth the risk just to scare somenody.

[termite]

Vehicles are being hit quite a lot at crossings. It will happen again.
Rich

Yep, just heard of a truck/train incident early today in South Africa, 2 dozen dead, more injured. A truck carring farm workers tried to beat the train at the crossing and failed.

Alan

[richg]

 About two years or so ago, in Amherst MA, a couple young teen girls jumped on the tracks and quickly jumped off as they saw and heard an Amtrak coming. There are a few road crossing and the driver sounds the horns.  Think the speed is about 60 mph at that spot. The driver set the e stop from what I can tell from the video. A train watcher who does a lot of video taping in the area just happened to be there. This was on the local news and newspaper. The video is probably still in You Tube.
A older women gave to  two girls a what for.
The Bach Man lives not to far from this spot. He might know more details as the authorities where looking into it as I never heard anymore about this issue.
You get bored, search You Tube for train crossing accidents.

Rich

[Michigan Railfan]

Rich, I believe this is the video you are talking about:

http://youtube.com/?reload=2&rdm=m6f91i5du#/watch?v=gyIW0r3-ruA

[rogertra]

NO grade crossing accident is ever the fault of the engineer in charge of the train.

All he or she can do is put the train into emergency.  After that, it's out of the engineer's hands.

Sure, the lawyers suing the railroad will argue that the brakes should have could have been applied earlier and that's their job, to get a settlement for the idiot or the idiot's family who was driving the car but they were not in the cab.

Yes, there have been grade crossing accidents where the railroad has been found negligent, as have municipalities and highways departments because the grade crossing has been deemed poorly designed or poorly maintained etc..  How many grade crossings have you seen that have traffic lights either on one side or both sides of the grade crossing where vehicles could get trapped?  Yes, the traffic lights and grade crossing signals are supposed to be interlocked but some of these styles of grade crossing are so poorly designed that a driver can easily become confused, with tragic results.

[glennk28]

the lawy  gjers need to review Newton's Laws of Motion!  gj

[Doneldon]

Never under any circumstances begin to cross a railroad track unless there is already plenty of room for your vehicle on the far side of the tracks. This applies even if there is no train in sight or hearing. Use the Stop! Look! And listen! rule if there are no crossing lights or gates.

There is only one reason for grade crossing crashes: Driver stupidity. And while I'm all for improving the gene pool, I abhor the consequences for innocent victims in the idiots' vehicles, the typically ridiculous litigation and the heartbreak for loved ones. Since it's probably impossible to stupid proof every grade crossing, let's be thankful that there aren't so many crossings any more. Aggressive enforcement of violators and persistent public education might help but I see no evidence of either. I can't understand this complacency because grade crossing crashes are ugly. When was the last time you heard of one after which the survivors were treated and released from a local hospital? Probably never because there are few survivors to take to a hospital and those few are unlikely to be candidates for treated and released.
                                                                                                   -- D