ANother idiot caught on tape, this ones a real prize winner, or is that weiner!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZfznm-LW1c&feature=related
Have fun with your trains
This truck driver has already received his full allotment of scorn from this forum in a previous thread. In my opinion, this had nothing to do with a lack of intelligence on the part of the driver.
Not sure how you can make a judgment about the driver based on what you can see in this video. He was hung up in the crossing and YOU have absolutely no idea what was behind him. For all you know he may have crushed a family car if he attempted to back up. Must be nice to be a typical know-it-all railfan who never makes mistakes but views the rest of the world as fools.
PigFarmer1 Not sure how you can make a judgment about the driver based on what you can see in this video. He was hung up in the crossing and YOU have absolutely no idea what was behind him. For all you know he may have crushed a family car if he attempted to back up. Must be nice to be a typical know-it-all railfan who never makes mistakes but views the rest of the world as fools.
Not exactly sure who you are talking to, but I agree with you 100%.
Your title sums it up.
Though to be fair, it does look like he turned off a parallel road and had no place to go.
Guess if by "Know it all" you mean someone who remembered their driving instructors stearn warnings to "never ever stop on the tracks" back when they were in high school 30 years ago...yep, guess thats me allright.
Now lets see, usually the lights on almost 100% of the crosings I've seen, go on several seconds before the gates come down so it looks like he entered the crossing after or right when the lights had activated, once he entered the crossing and noticed the gates were also dropping why didnt he proceed thru? there was nothing blocking apparent in front of him, he would have been completly clear of the crossing by the time the train arrives if he hadnt stopped and hestited for several moments.
You can see after he enters and stops, hesitates then tries to back up but fouls the already lowered gate (thats looks in the video to be why he didnt keep backing up) hesitates again, so instead of just waiting it out where he was clear of the track the approaching train was on, he instead tries to get across in a vehicle type not known for great rates of acceleration, he got creamed on the rear axles for it. I see several errors of judgement on several levels...if anyone else cant see them for what they are, thats not my concern.
But the basic fact is, as my old driving instructor Mr McKee said, once you enter a crossing zone, DONT STOP, even if the lights and the gates activate after you've entered, keep going because you can get across before the train arrives, they're timed that way. And NEVER enter into a crossing if the other side is blocked by traffic or a red light. Wait on the other side. Out here several people get hit each year because they cluelessly stop right on the tracks waiting for a traffic signal regardless of how many "Dont Stop on the Tracks" signs are posted and or "Do Not Stop - Keep Clear" warnings are painted on the pavement?
I mean these are BASIC driver safety issues, I learned them decades ago in high school, guess not everyone else did.
vsmithGuess if by "Know it all" you mean someone who remembered their driving instructors stearn warnings to "never ever stop on the tracks" back when they were in high school 30 years ago...yep, guess thats me allright.
I don’t think your analogy of the rule to not stop on the tracks applies to this incident. The rule pertains to stopping on the tracks when the crossing is clear as in the case of slow traffic proceeding over a crossing. And the principle is associated with the rule to not enter a crossing in traffic if there is not room to pass over it and get into the clear on the opposite side. This truck driver stopped on the crossing because the gate came down in front of him. His sin was entering the crossing with the signals activated, assuming they were.
Here is what I see in the video:
1) The truck enters the crossing while the gates are up.
2) When the truck enters the crossing, there is no visible indication of whether or not the lights were flashing. One might assume that they were because the lights typically activate prior to the gates, but I am not sure if there is a predictable standard covering that issue.
3) The truck appears to be making a right turn just ahead of entering the crossing, so he may be concentrating on how his trailer is tracking and whether it will clear signposts or other obstacles behind him. You can’t look forward and backward at the same time, so not seeing a vehicle blocking his forward movement, he may have felt safe in looking back to watch his trailer. If the crossing lights had started to flash at that moment, it is fairly easy to see how he might not have seen them. He would have been very close to the lights, with possibly a rather steep view angle to them. However, the video does not show how the lights were arranged or if they would have been entirely clear to a driver approaching at a 90-degree angle to the crossing.
4) It appears that the driver’s first indication of a crossing blockage is when he sees the far gate come down ahead of him. He stopped, afoul of the first track. He has already passed the near gate, and it comes down behind his cab. He could have continued and broke the far gate, but apparently he did not want to cause damage to his truck or the gate, and also he may have believed that breaking the gate might compound his predicament should he escape getting hit by the train, but happen to be seen by a cop.
5) So his next move was to back up to clear the crossing, which he began to do. But just after starting to back up, he abruptly stopped. Apparently, he looked back and discovered he was blocked possibly by another vehicle, or he may have seen the gate down behind his cab, and decided that he did not want to break it as surly would have happened had he continued backing up. If he was reluctant to break the far gate, which he first encountered going ahead, it stands to reason that he may have been reluctant to break the gate behind his cab if he were to back up.
6) Many have commented that he should have stayed put, fouling the first track because the train was on the second track. However, it might not have been entirely clear to the truck driver which track the train was on. And even if he did see that he was in the clear of the train, he may have again been concerned about being seen fouling the crossing as a train passed.
7) So, apparently not able to escape backwards, the driver chose to gamble on escaping forward even though it would take more time to clear the crossing than it would to escape by backing up. But even with the forward escape, the driver was careful to avoid the far gate. And the rear gate was dragging on his trailer, so I am not sure that he was not going slow in order to avoid damage to it as he pulled out from under it
My conclusion, based only on what I see in the video, is as follows:
I think he entered the crossing before he realized that a train was approaching, but with the trailer clearance, the turn, and unknown contingencies regarding the visibility of the lights and their timing with the gates, or even whether they were working; I cannot conclude that the driver was reckless, stupid, or was trying to beat the train, or even realized that he was breaking the law when he entered the crossing (assuming that the lights were activated).
The fact that he was responsible and conscientious enough to refrain from damaging the gates even though he was in dire circumstances seems to conflict with the image of someone with a careless attitude, or one who would be reckless enough to try to beat the train.
Just looks like a bad thing all the way around. I've seen this video before. Amusingly, I saw another one listed on the side as "horrible train crash, must watch". When I realised it was one of my local trains, an NJTransit set with a PL42, I had to check it out. Sure enough, nothing happens, but the comments are amusing if not a little derogatory.
Bucyrus 6) Many have commented that he should have stayed put, fouling the first track because the train was on the second track. However, it might not have been entirely clear to the truck driver which track the train was on. And even if he did see that he was in the clear of the train, he may have again been concerned about being seen fouling the crossing as a train passed.
Even if he knew that the train was on the far track, maybe he was also aware of the possibility of a second train approaching on the near track.
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Hey Bucyrus,
I wasn't referring to you. You echoed my own sentiments.
I just get tired of these holier-than-thou types who feel qualified to comment on everything that has anything to do with railroads. The guy who started this thread wasn't there but has no problem calling the truck driver an idiot. As I said earlier, it must be nice to know everything and NEVER make a mistake. Point of fact is we don't even know if the trucker made a mistake. I'm around the tracks way more than most people and I've seen plenty of times when the gates hang people up (Especially true in the case of semis) through no fault of their own. Had he broken the gate to get across the tracks the person who started this thread probably would have been up in arms over that. Sometimes you just can't win.
Interesting, I guess I was the only one who noticed that the gates came down over only ONE lane, leaving the other clear for the truck to proceed, and BTW a broken gate is a far better decision than a broken truck...and far easier to repair.
Seams like the only one having rather self-righteous attitude about this whole thing isnt me...I just posted yet another in a long string of crossing accidents caught on tape, and I posted my reasonings for the poor decision making that lead to this accident. I'm not the one here picking a fight by name calling, and no, I wont bite. Takes bigger bait than that to rouse this old lion...
vsmithI guess I was the only one who noticed that the gates came down over only ONE lane, leaving the other clear for the truck to proceed, and BTW a broken gate is a far better decision than a broken truck...and far easier to repair.
You are correct in your observation that he could have gone across without breaking the far gate, as he ultimately did just before getting hit by the train. So I will correct my observation that he hesitated because he did not want to break that gate. Perhaps he aborted his backup escape because of a reluctance to break the gate behind him, but it may have been due to other reasons such as seeing that a vehicle was blocking him behind.
But he did decide not to cross initially once he saw the far gate coming down and/or saw the train, even though he could have cleared the far gate. So I still conclude that he most likely entered the crossing without realizing that a train was approaching and the crossing warning had been activated. His first reaction was to back into the clear, but he found that move unacceptable, and then he gambled on a desperate move to escape going forward. It is not evident why he did not stay in the clear of the train even though he was fouling the first track. For all we know, there might have been a train approaching on the first track in addition to the one on the second track.
Bucyrus For all we know, there might have been a train approaching on the first track in addition to the one on the second track.
Or perhaps there was a train in the clear of the crossing parked on the track the truck was stopped on, and when the gates came down, he panicked and his focused on the parked train and thus decided to try to get out of its way, and then when he started across the second track, the other train appeared from 'behind' the stopped train.
Or perhaps he completely misjudged the speed of the approaching train (it certainly was moving right along).
It looked like it was a nice, privately-owned tractor, not the sort of vehicle one would normally take many chances with, as I understand that they can cost upwards of $150K (nicely equipped).
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