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Oxnard smashup
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I for one would like to see this video played in every trucking school and safety meeting. <br /> <br />Big_Boy_4005 I am aware of the "damned if you do and damned if you dont" and the outcome is set. It cannot be changed. There was not enough time between the light in front the gate above and the traffic behind and the train blasting at you from the left side. <br /> <br />I suspect the driver may have had "sensory overload" and probably decided that his number was up and prayed that it would not hurt too much. <br /> <br />I noticed that everyone in the traffic was right up against the tracks themselves. It is almost like "closest firstest" theory that the closer you are to a crossing some how the faster you will get across. The truck went into motion the instant the light turned green. <br /> <br />You pointed out that the truck may have been too close to the rails and I agree, not being able to see exactly where that white bar on the road is I cannot decide if indeed he was too close to the rails. <br /> <br />One of the things in trucking school they hammer into students is the ability to place the front bumper of a 18 wheeler within 1 foot of a designated white line. There are things you can look for to achieve that objective as well as mirrors that will show the driver his own license plate and everything in front. <br /> <br />I also think that he may have been feeling "rushed" as the cargo of 150 or so 1 gallon containers of jelly hardly makes up two pallets of cargo he probably had multipule pickups to make before he was able to finish getting loaded that can have a great driving impact on a driver who is "driven" to meet deadlines. <br /> <br />A 13,000 pound trailer attached to a 12,500 pound tractor (I forget the exact tares so give or take a little) will provide a good hit to the train. But I throw out the coupler problem because I have seen images of train wrecks where freight cars stayed coupled but folded like a book. <br /> <br />I am thankful it was not fully loaded to 40 ton. It certainly will have derailed the train and sent the passenger coaches flying in a very very bad wreck. As it was the engine was able to "slice" right thru the trailer as if ripping a telephone book. The trailer is really nothing more than a skeleton steel or aluminum underframe with wood floor and foam sides with a metal over wrap The first 10 feet of the trailer is pretty important as it is nothing but metal plate for the 5th wheel on the tractor. <br /> <br />"Slice!" so that is one positive thing in the accident minimal resistance. <br /> <br />I am betting by the position of the truck very close to the tracks that this is what is happening. <br /> <br />I think we will learn a little something more every day as this month progresses but I tell ya... when there is a accident it can be a doozy! <br />Good Luck!
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