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[quote user="Phoebe Vet"] I have no knowledge of any kind about this particular accident, however I have investigated hundreds of motor vehicle accidents.  There is always some debris at the point of impact, and skid marks begin at the point that the tire began sliding. [/quote] I have seen that effect of debris deposited right at the point of impact, as you mention.  In a collision between two cars, the impact energy is shared between them.  If one vehicle is moving and the other stopped, the moving vehicle decelerates upon impact and the stationary vehicle accelerates upon impact.  The collision therefore has some dwell time at the point of impact, allowing pieces to be shed right there.  And pieces are shed from both vehicles.  <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> When a train strikes a vehicle, however, there is no sharing of the impact.  The vehicle absorbs 100% of the impact energy, and the train, for all practical purposes, absorbs none of it.  The effect is like a bat hitting a baseball.  With a train hitting a car directly broadside at about 60 mph, I would think that every element of the vehicle, whether attached or detached by the force of impact, would be propelled into forward motion, and not come to a stop until it was some distance beyond the point of impact.  I would not be surprised if there were no debris whatsoever left within several feet of the point of impact in such a collision.   There may not be any skid marks at the point of impact either if the force of the train initially lifted the vehicle.  According to poster, “Informed,” that was BNSF’s explanation for their contention that the point of impact occurred prior to the skid marks.
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