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Is Amtrak Crash Nevada’s Fault?
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">The theory that the driver may have been trying to beat the train has been brought up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have considered that theory because at first, it seemed quite plausible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The driver thinks it is a slower moving freight train, and he speeds up, only to discover that the train is approaching too fast to beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the driver aborts the attempt to beat the train, but cannot stop in time.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">But there is one major flaw in that theory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To beat the train, the driver would have to crash through the gates at very high speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly the truck could break through the gates, but it would likely cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to the truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conceivably, the gate could come right through the windshield and kill the driver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Going around the lowered gates would have prevented the damage, but it would have required slowing down to maybe 5 mph and still be a difficult maneuver with a tractor/trailer unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it seems improbable that the driver was planning on racing the train to the crossing, and then slowing way down to go around the gates.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I rule out the theory that the driver was trying to beat the train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever inconvenience a driver believes he or she will avoid by beating a train is bound to be more than offset by the inconvenience of causing significant damage to his or her vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p>
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