Truck driver stupid level......11
Youtube won't allow the video to be posted here.
Fortunately the HU was second in line.
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Thanks for my early morning heart attack Rob!!!
Couldn't believe my eyes......why didn't the truck driver just reverse back and take out the boom gate that was wedged between the cab and the trailer, and save everyone/everything??????
The poor engineer in the cab of the loco will need to get a change of pants at the next stop.
Peter......Buco Australia.
@Buco posted:Thanks for my early morning heart attack Rob!!!
Couldn't believe my eyes......why didn't the truck driver just reverse back and take out the boom gate that was wedged between the cab and the trailer, and save everyone/everything??????
Wait,,,,,WHAT?????? Why didn't the stupid truck driver stop in the first place, with all the flashing red lights???
The poor engineer in the cab of the loco will need to get a change of pants at the next stop.
Probably not.
Peter......Buco Australia.
@Hot Water posted:Wait,,,,,WHAT?????? Why didn't the stupid truck driver stop in the first place, with all the flashing red lights???
My first thought. 
Second was why didn't he just back up? The gate arm breaking is better than the loss of his truck. Only guess beside the previously mentioned stupidity was that he had cars right behind him and couldn't.
And for anyone who doesn't believe how long it takes a freight train to stop should watch this video....
Bob
The gate hit his cab on the way down then ended up between the cab and trailer. Then he panicked and smash crash, wow. I have long said there is a difference between a truck driver and a guy with the keys to a truck. This guy belongs in a Yugo.
I can't help but wonder if he thought that perhaps he had clearance. Some non-train folks don't realize that a train is significantly wider than the track. I remember that a woman was badly injured or killed trying to photograph one of the Union Pacific steam locos because she positioned herself just outside the gauge. In this case, the opposite gate was already on its way down when he entered the crossing. Totally avoidable.
Looks like his front wheels were on the tracks; plus I assume if the driver (and passenger) thought they weren't going to be hit, they would have stayed in the cab?
I searched local/national news stories on the incident but none said the truck had stalled or that there was a vehicle behind blocking him. (If there was a car behind, he had time to go forward anyway.) Unfortunately several said the truck was "stuck" because of the crossing gate coming down between the cab and trailer (which is silly of course.)
Notice how the concrete truck driver started backing up once he saw what the other driver did?
Talk about how long it takes to stop a train, it was a long time before I could even notice a decrease in speed. If it weren't for the squealing of breaks I would have thought he wasn't even trying to stop.
Not that this excuses anything the driver did, but the westbound train was on the rightmost set of tracks, which is typically eastbound traffic at this location. He appeared to attempt to back the truck up, probably thinking the train was on the other set of tracks. His "Oh S%&t" moment was when he realized that trains can run both directions on either set of tracks.
Tom
@Tom Densel posted:Not that this excuses anything the driver did, but the westbound train was on the rightmost set of tracks, which is typically eastbound traffic at this location. He appeared to attempt to back the truck up, probably thinking the train was on the other set of tracks. His "Oh S%&t" moment was when he realized that trains can run both directions on either set of tracks.
Tom
Except,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the idiot still continued onto the tracks even though the red lights were already flashing, the bells were already sounding, and THE GATES WERE ALREADY STARTING DOWN!
@Hot Water posted:Except,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the idiot still continued onto the tracks even though the red lights were already flashing, the bells were already sounding, and THE GATES WERE ALREADY STARTING DOWN!
Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. Situational awareness was absent on so many levels. I was just pointing out the track usage, which was not mentioned in this thread or in the Youtube comments. The idiot driver should have not been in that situation in the first place. He probably should not have been in the cab of the truck. He probably wishes he had not gotten out of bed that morning.
Tom
