That was extremely close. Was he stuck or trying something?
https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-police-officer-wheelchair-man-train-rescue
Man, that's a good cop!
The man in the wheelchair? Attempted suicide? Chair wheel caught in the gap? Mentally out of it? Who knows? A paucity of information there.
Have you ever looked at the operation of the leading wheels of most wheel chairs ? Just turn the direction of a wheel chair less than 5 degrees and the wheel(s) swivel. Then one or both leading wheels may drop into the gauge side gap possibly up to 3 or 4 inches. I personally know someone who that happened to fortunately no train coming. Rescued by a man close by.
Speculation --- The man may have been crossing and hears the train. He then looks that way causing the wheel chair to turn and leading wheel(s) dropping into guage side.
We have a crossing that is regularly crossed by several persons daily to get to drug store, local 7-11, PO, bank, city hall, etc. It is protected by lights and gates.
Flintlock76The man in the wheelchair? Attempted suicide? Chair wheel caught in the gap? Mentally out of it? Who knows? A paucity of information there.
https://goo.gl/maps/7dEEfyp9ryPnt6oA8
There's the crossing on streetview. I can pretty much guess what happened - and see a major issue that was probably at play.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
What time of day was this? Sheesh, you can see trains coming a mile away in either direction.
I can see an easy fix, though, one that can be retrofitted easily to these crossings. Make up 'bars' of relatively distinctive color plastic that can serve as cross 'rails' on either side of the railhead and flange gap,. spaced to guide wheelchair wheels without letting them turn. Then clearly mark that any wheelchair or scooter users have to engage these rails when crossing safely.
Alas! the discussion has been had about crossings that 'anticipate' when a train is coming and activate an 'early warning' for slow-moving people using the crossing. If I remember correctly, railroads saw the necessary scheduling as a risk to proprietary operations information that could be easily extracted by casual observation.
Or you know, not have the crossing apparatus bolted in the middle of the sidewalk?
zugmannOr you know, not have the crossing apparatus bolted in the middle of the sidewalk
As I recall the Californians had a similar problem with those idiot 'no straight through' gates for bike paths, which you couldn't negotiate easily in a wheelchair. Ot-nay oo-tay ight-bray, as we used to say in the East.
For what it's worth, oh brother do I agree with you.
umm...ok..?
Haven't heard pig Latin in a long time. ixnay on the ottenray. Young Frankenstein
Glad this "evil" policeman wasn't defunded.
Gramp Glad this "evil" policeman wasn't defunded.
Was that political crap comment really neccesary here?
zugmann Flintlock76 The man in the wheelchair? Attempted suicide? Chair wheel caught in the gap? Mentally out of it? Who knows? A paucity of information there. https://goo.gl/maps/7dEEfyp9ryPnt6oA8 There's the crossing on streetview. I can pretty much guess what happened - and see a major issue that was probably at play.
Flintlock76 The man in the wheelchair? Attempted suicide? Chair wheel caught in the gap? Mentally out of it? Who knows? A paucity of information there.
Mod: anything placed above the top of rail is a bozo no-no. (FRA/CaPUC/AREMA)....the same goes for any striping in the foul zone
zugmannWas that political crap comment really necessary here?
Look there for your fix if you want to discuss defunding... many more potentially appreciative readers there.
mudchickenZugs: Who gets the "come to jesus" moment, the City Engineer or the CA PUC who approved the design? WCH has a secondary pedX-ng gate to cover sidewalks going behind the gate, but the road agency probably did not want to pay for it and CaPUC probably did not see the need for it.
Going up and down the street, at least they are consistent. Holy cow, I'm guessing they widened the street at one point?
mudchickenMod: anything placed above the top of rail is a bozo no-no. (FRA/CaPUC/AREMA)....the same goes for any striping in the foul zone
How about filling the gaps with something resilient that would support the weight of people but squish down under the rail traffic? I seem to remember seeing that somewhere, but I'm trying to remember where. Maybe it was streetcar tracks.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Sorr, I'm just so tired of it all.
mudchicken: anything placed above the top of rail is a bozo no-no.
It still wouldn't surprise me if the ADA people pushed something like that through. Practicality is often barely an afterthought.
From what I could make out from the video, this wasn't your garden variety wheelchair, with skinny wheels - it was a motorized version. Those usually have some pretty fat wheels on them. In fact you can catch a glimpse of the rear caster wheels in the video.
Said chair also appeared to be oriented along the tracks, instead of crossing them. If he was simply crossing the tracks, this might mean he panicked and tried to turn around.
Or he got confused with the controls, or maybe the battery chose that moment to die.
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...
Paul of Covington How about filling the gaps with something resilient that would support the weight of people but squish down under the rail traffic?
Don't forget, while the leading edge of the wheel is pushing down, the trailing edge is pushing up.
Locally here there is a rubber-like gasket piece that they put in some crossings to flush up the gap.
They don't seem to hold up very well, and need changing more often than whoever is responsible seems to be willing to change them out.
Basically a "bolt-on" failure point, from my perspective.
Paul of Covington mudchicken Mod: anything placed above the top of rail is a bozo no-no. (FRA/CaPUC/AREMA)....the same goes for any striping in the foul zone How about filling the gaps with something resilient that would support the weight of people but squish down under the rail traffic? I seem to remember seeing that somewhere, but I'm trying to remember where. Maybe it was streetcar tracks.
mudchicken Mod: anything placed above the top of rail is a bozo no-no. (FRA/CaPUC/AREMA)....the same goes for any striping in the foul zone
It was hard to see in the body cam video, but was that a powered scooter or a traditional wheelchair?
Likely it was a problem with the wheelchair or it somehow got lodged in the track. Often the engineers don't think through every detail.. i.e. how difficult would it be to cross here in a wheelchair?
That looks like a Hoveround or equivalent 'mobility solution' which has two fairly broad pneumatic tired wheels on the sides and casters fore and aft: it is driven by independent electric motors on the two side wheels.
The only wheel I see aligned with a flangeway in the brief part of the video that shows the scooter is the right main wheel. It does not appear to be jammed in any way or even with its sidewalk depressed; a couple of the stories indicate that the officer first tried to save the machine but it could not be either moved or tilted.
It appears he was belted into the thing somehow and pulling him out threw his legs to the opposite side where one of them contacted part of the train-- it was that close.
rdamon It was hard to see in the body cam video, but was that a powered scooter or a traditional wheelchair?
My vote goes to the powered scooter. A headrest is definitely visible in the video - most "traditional" wheel chairs don't have that style of headrest.
Too, the officer would have likely been able to drag a regular wheelchair out of the way, unless it was really wedged into the flangeway. Those scooters are heavy.
Ulrich: Or were the gate foundations moved back because of the numerous strikes by over-wide trucks and inebriated motorists? (cross-bucks and signal masts are constantly under attack by the rubber-tired side who can't comprehend staying in their lane)
tree68 rdamon It was hard to see in the body cam video, but was that a powered scooter or a traditional wheelchair? My vote goes to the powered scooter. A headrest is definitely visible in the video - most "traditional" wheel chairs don't have that style of headrest. Too, the officer would have likely been able to drag a regular wheelchair out of the way, unless it was really wedged into the flangeway. Those scooters are heavy.
Batteries aren't light.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDBatteries aren't light.
'Xactly.
Figuring out model of device from that video reminds me if a guy in HS who used to claim he was extrapolating on his sliderule to many places beyond reality. .
charlie hebdoFiguring out model of device from that video reminds me of a guy in HS who used to claim he was extrapolating on his sliderule to many places beyond reality...
This uncomfortably reminds me of how many decimal places I used in my sophomore-year lab reports ... before we had the training on significant-figure analysis. (I figured 'let the reader do the rounding he wants'...)
There are quite a few frames in that bodycam video that clearly show the type of scooter, right down to the red plastic shell and the light-colored side tires, and the rear caster. It would have been helpful if the bodycam hadn't 'bobbed up' just at the wrong point as she's approaching. The upright backrest and general 'riding position' are obvious in later frames.
Perhaps I wouldn't be so confident if there weren't several people who drive these things up and down and up and down in front of and around my wife's residential compound, without any particular care for people trying to enter and leave in cars. Embeds the details in your mind after a while, it does...
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