While out mowing near the CSX ROW I observed about 3/4 mile away the headlights of a northbound freight. Since I was located where I could see one of our grade crossings I stopped and watched as I usually do.
A tractor trailer crossed but stopped with his cab just beyond the siding track but trailer fouling the siding and main line. I said to my self what the Heck? About 5 - 10 seconds later an ambulance with lights and siren (?) went around the truck . Truck then started ahead as the crossing lights started flashing but gates missed the trailer. There was no traffic in front of truck that would have prevented him from stopping for the ambulance after clearing the RR tracks. Note the train appeard to be making the 50 MPH track speed.
Tree what are your thoughts on this?
I doubt that anyone would think about stopping in a major highway crossing in such a case. "Do not stop on tracks" would seem to take priority over stopping for the emergency vehicle. And even though nothing happened and the gates hadn't gone down yet, his ignorance undoubtedly caused some undue stress on the folks in the cab.
(And, for the last time, I'm too short to be "Tree"!)
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
blue streak 1Tree what are your thoughts on this?
Classic case of lack of situational awareness.
I'm sure we've all done something like it at one time or another in our lives - though hopefully not with such potentially disastrous results. Like being so careful not to spill the gravy as you're passing it that you don't notice that you've got your elbow in your mashed potatoes...
You get so focused on one situation (in this case, an emergency vehicle) that you don't notice another (the crossing and the oncoming train). Unfortunately, I'd bet that the driver of the ambulance was so focused on passing the truck that he may not have seen the train, either.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
About March of 2010 we had a Thread here referencing an incident in Detroit Mich. area where an AMTRAK passenger train hit a fire apparatur that had been parked on the tracks as the crew responded to an accident scene.
It was a case of an extreme lack of situational awareness on the part of the Driver/ff of the rig, which was an aerial platform truck, probably worth something over a Half Million Bucks
(linked) http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/170124.aspx?PageIndex=2
Emergency response drivers and others tend to forget about the trains til the horn sound and then it's usually too late. It then becomes a case of the circumstances that Larry describes.
My 4 year old grandson LOVES to watch trains. I sometimes take him to a parking lot near the light rail line that parallels a NS main line to watch trains. There is a grade level crossing with a busy road that parallels the tracks near the lot.
It amazes me how many people stop on the three tracks while stopped at the traffic light. During rush hour, a train passes about every 4 minutes.
The traffic light on the parallel road is interconnected with the crossing signal so that it turns green to allow people to leave the crossing after the lights activate and before the gates come down, but I have seen panic stricken people get caught between the gates when they were too slow to respond.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=pvmrjg87t2gx&lvl=19.31017377180491&dir=0.32949813424959823&sty=b&where1=Charlotte%2C%20NC&form=LMLTCC
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
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