This yesterday Feb.24, 2016
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That's what happens when you get frustrated and forget to pay attention. Worrying more about the small stuff rather than the overall picture.
After watching the first minute or so why was the truck driver so foolish? The lights were flashing and the horn from the train sounding off.
As somebody else mentioned a while ago "You can't fix stupid!"
On a personal note, I am glad I don't work for the school district any more, I was a bus attendant for a year where I live and the bus driver ran the train crossing when the red lights were flashing and the gates were coming down, did this several times. I made a report to the supervisor at my job and still the driver did the same thing. So I was forced to resign from my job(I didn't show up) because of safety issues; mainly my life! So I am retired now.
Lee Fritz
Stupid kills, but not enough to really help. 
I saw this yesterday on FOX. Really hard to comprehend where this guy's brain was at the time. Funny how that big, old train dragged that truck like a toy.
prrhorseshoecurve posted:That's what happens when you get frustrated and forget to pay attention. Worrying more about the small stuff rather than the overall picture.
That's exactly what happened. This took place in Northern Minnesota. The trooper had just completed a routine inspection of the truck. Didn't give him a ticket or anything. It's just that feeling you get from being pulled over. Missed the lights and the horn and just followed the idiot in the car in front of him. One lucky dummy.
People fail to realise how big and powerful this equipment is. It takes no prisoners!
In my opinion you have to be nuts to run a level crossing. And you need a padded cell to do it in front of the Fuzz
A train wins all ties. 
Hard to argue with statistics this lopsided.
LAZ,
I can almost bet this guy was either talking on a mobile phone or texting as he drive. Never looked up to see the lights and stop sign, and with no Union Switch & Signal auto Crossing Gates on this particular RR Crossing, he collided with a Train he never saw or heard coming! Idiot Truck Driver no doubt about it!
PCRR/Dave
I watched the video all the way to the end. The officer called in the accident and then drove up the access road to where the locomotives stopped and went to check on the truck driver. Officer was wearing a transmitter that broadcast back to the dashcam in his cruiser, and you can hear the truck driver claiming that he was behind a car that had stopped in front of him as he was going through the crossing, distracting him from noticing the lights or the train bearing down on him from the opposite direction of where he was looking.
(disclaimer) Of course none of that excuses getting hit by a train.
---PCJ
This incident is not the first nor will it be the last, what most people who do not pay heed to flashing railroad crossing, gated or not, when they are struck by the locomotive the engineer witnesses the accident. Unfortunately, because of the weight and velocity(speed) of the train , many of these collisions involve fatalities or critical injuries, drivers should remember that the engineer and possibly conductor were the last persons seeing them alive and the psychological affect of this accident on them.
The weight relationship between the typical freight train (10,000 tons) and your car (1.5 tons) is just about the same relationship as your car driving over a beer can. The beer can will ALWAYS lose.
Don't be the beer can.
That video is priceless. The truck driver is just as amazed at how stupid it was as everyone else. He just can't believe it was him this time. I think the cop was even more amazed because it really does appear the truck is going to make a right turn down the road just before the tracks and then whack.
The Russians really started something with dashcams and boy am I glad I have one. It has already captured people doing the stupidest stuff.
Wow - that was pure luck that nobody got seriously hurt. If there hadn't been a relatively smooth road right beside the tracks.............
Kinda ironic that the officer's car radio was playing "Come Dancing." The dance partners were a little mis-matched I'd say.
The location is around Mountain Iron MN. If this had happened sixty-odd years ago it might have been a 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone taking him out. That would have been a really close up inspection of the side-rods by the truck-driver.
rdunniii posted:That video is priceless. The truck driver is just as amazed at how stupid it was as everyone else. He just can't believe it was him this time. I think the cop was even more amazed because it really does appear the truck is going to make a right turn down the road just before the tracks and then whack.
The Russians really started something with dashcams and boy am I glad I have one. It has already captured people doing the stupidest stuff.
That's probably why the Minnesota State Patrol made the video public. It's a PSA for railroad crossing safety.
The driver was lucky it was just a "snag and drag". Another half a second and he would have taken the train in his door, and the results would have been very different. He wouldn't have walked away with just a cut. On the bright side he had to have been wearing his seat belt.
OGR Webmaster posted:The weight relationship between the typical freight train (10,000 tons) and your car (1.5 tons) is just about the same relationship as your car driving over a beer can. The beer can will ALWAYS lose.
Don't be the beer can.
Rich:
Very true. However, I thought Operation Lifesaver uses a 12 once SODA can!. The BEER concept really got my eye. However, the 4000:1 weight ratio is the same. Don't gt flattened!
Dominic Mazoch posted:OGR Webmaster posted:The weight relationship between the typical freight train (10,000 tons) and your car (1.5 tons) is just about the same relationship as your car driving over a beer can. The beer can will ALWAYS lose.
Don't be the beer can.
Rich:
Very true. However, I thought Operation Lifesaver uses a 12 once SODA can!. The BEER concept really got my eye. However, the 4000:1 weight ratio is the same. Don't gt flattened!
Soda is bad for you!
phillyreading posted:As somebody else mentioned a while ago "You can't fix stupid!"
Jerry
Attachments
That's what you get for running a stop sign in front of a cop
Beautiful locos, though.
Not only was the lights flashing, horn blowing but the crossing also has a stop sign which he also ran. As a retired engine this scene is all to common. Its true you cant fix stupid It is however a high price to pay for a human mistake.
"If there hadn't been a relatively smooth road right beside the tracks............."
"Another half a second and he would have taken the train in his door, and the results would have been very different."
Two excellent points that were made above. That driver is one unbelievably fortunate dude. This kind of miraculous survival experience can, and should, change a person's life. I hope he gave an extra hug to all his loved ones that night, who were at his home rather than a funeral home.
This is tragic.
We need another bigger government agency to oversee railroads and transportation safety. Since the gov't has done such a fine job with everything else, with a $100 Billion budget this should get fixed quickly. People have a "right" to not be hit by a train. Too bad the police were recording the whole thing on video, else we would see some lawsuits for malfunctioning signals, snow on the road, improper speed limit notifications, poorly positioned STOP sign, and general insensitivity of the mechanical train to the truck drivers feelings. Probably some hurtful wording in there somewhere also.
The policeman's flashing lights were on the whole time. In Minnesota that doesn't mean pull over and stop, like other states. It probably means for the train to stop and let the truck go and have the right of way.
SIRT posted:
Another???? It is the exact same video that the original poster started this thread with.
I thought maybe it was Ground hog day again
A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
Matt Kirsch posted:A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
WHAT????? What gave you the impression that the trucker was "shaken down", when he wasn't even issued a citation by the officer during the initial stop?
Matt Kirsch posted:A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
Hey Matt, what is your professional occupation?
I am SURE that I could come up with a list of stereotypes that you would disagree with, regarding your own occupation.
Doug
Hot Water posted:Matt Kirsch posted:A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
WHAT????? What gave you the impression that the trucker was "shaken down", when he wasn't even issued a citation by the officer during the initial stop?
The fact that he was pulled over for a "routine inspection." They're shaking him down for violation money. At the very least the cop wasted his time and put him behind schedule.
I've got truck driver friends that constantly complain about the DOT "money grabbers" with such pith and vitriol that you'd think they were talking about child molesters. Truck drivers' distaste for the DOT cops seems pretty universal in my travels.
It is no stretch of the imagination to think that one might be just a bit peeved for having been pulled over for absolutely no reason at all.
Matt Kirsch posted:Hot Water posted:Matt Kirsch posted:A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
WHAT????? What gave you the impression that the trucker was "shaken down", when he wasn't even issued a citation by the officer during the initial stop?
The fact that he was pulled over for a "routine inspection." They're shaking him down for violation money. At the very least the cop wasted his time and put him behind schedule.
I've got truck driver friends that constantly complain about the DOT "money grabbers" with such pith and vitriol that you'd think they were talking about child molesters. Truck drivers' distaste for the DOT cops seems pretty universal in my travels.
It is no stretch of the imagination to think that one might be just a bit peeved for having been pulled over for absolutely no reason at all.
Well, a "bit peeved" yes. But THAT stupid to run a stop sign AND all those flashing red crossing lights????
I suppose being a "Professional Driver" excuses that.
challenger3980 posted:Matt Kirsch posted:A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
Hey Matt, what is your professional occupation?
I am SURE that I could come up with a list of stereotypes that you would disagree with, regarding your own occupation.
Doug
You can't tell me that after being pulled over for NO REASON and having a bunch of your time wasted, putting you behind schedule, that you would not be the slightest bit agitated.
Is it such a stretch to think that a truck driver out there somewhere would not be in a blind rage in the same situation, especially considering the outcome? Not every driver is Little Mary Sunshine. There's a lot of anger on the roads.
Hot Water posted:Matt Kirsch posted:Hot Water posted:Matt Kirsch posted:A lot of truck drivers on the road have this preconceived notion that the cops are just there for the money grab, and this driver was likely in a blind rage from having just been "shaken down" by the cop.
WHAT????? What gave you the impression that the trucker was "shaken down", when he wasn't even issued a citation by the officer during the initial stop?
The fact that he was pulled over for a "routine inspection." They're shaking him down for violation money. At the very least the cop wasted his time and put him behind schedule.
I've got truck driver friends that constantly complain about the DOT "money grabbers" with such pith and vitriol that you'd think they were talking about child molesters. Truck drivers' distaste for the DOT cops seems pretty universal in my travels.
It is no stretch of the imagination to think that one might be just a bit peeved for having been pulled over for absolutely no reason at all.
Well, a "bit peeved" yes. But THAT stupid to run a stop sign AND all those flashing red crossing lights????
I suppose being a "Professional Driver" excuses that.
SOMETHING caused him to completely ignore the stop sign, all those flashing red lights, and the locomotive's horn. My guess given the circumstances is blind rage. You'd have to be blind to miss all that!
Matt Kirsch posted:SOMETHING caused him to completely ignore the stop sign, all those flashing red lights, and the locomotive's horn. My guess given the circumstances is blind rage. You'd have to be blind to miss all that!
I suppose that'll hold up in court...
Rusty
