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It does seem strange that the legal outcome would have pivoted on a disagreement as to whether or not the signals were working if the company has the ability to prove that the signals were working.  It seems that the jury decided that they were not working because BNSF did not prove that they were working.  I recall that when that crash occurred in 2003, the immediate conclusion was that the car ran around the gates.    A few questions occur to me: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> Did the train get stopped before it cleared the crossing, and if so, were the signals and gates activated when the police and witnesses arrived? <o:p></o:p> Did the engineer testify as to the activation of the signals and gates? <o:p></o:p> Was the engineer the only person in the cab, or was there also a conductor, and if so, did the conductor testify as to the activation of the signals and gates? <o:p></o:p> Why was the Chevy Cavalier equipped with a black box event recorder? <o:p></o:p> What is the probability of a car zigzagging around the lowered gates while traveling at 28 mph?  It would be interesting to see what the jury concluded on that point.  They may have concluded that it would have been an impossible move, however, the car did not make it to the second gate.  Therefore, it is not possible to know whether they had gone around the first gate, but were traveling too fast to dodge the second gate.  Missing the second gate would have been the hard part if they were traveling at 28 mph.  You could go around the first gate at 100 mph and miss it without difficulty.   <o:p></o:p> Here is a story from 2003: <o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.abcnewspapers.com/2003/anoka/october/2train.html" mce_href="http://www.abcnewspapers.com/2003/anoka/october/2train.html">http://www.abcnewspapers.com/2003/anoka/october/2train.html</A> <o:p></o:p> Notice that it says the conductor testified that the signals were working.  It does not mention the engineer.  The story about the legal case says the engineer witnessed the signals working, but it does not say whether he testified so.  It also does not mention the conductor. <o:p></o:p> Here is another story after the legal outcome: <o:p></o:p> <A href="http://www.startribune.com/local/east/43342282.html?elr=KArks:DCiUtEia_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU" mce_href="http://www.startribune.com/local/east/43342282.html?elr=KArks:DCiUtEia_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU">http://www.startribune.com/local/east/43342282.html?elr=KArks:DCiUtEia_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU</A> <o:p></o:p>
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