How Stupid Can Drivers Be With Trains?

Can't fix stupid.

Should someone from the railroad crew got off and flag the crossing as the train crossed? Save the money on crossing signals and simply have trains slow to these crossings? This doesn't seem like such a big deal.

I second what ROYBOY said!

That genius had to have seen the train, plus he left the scene of an accident after he backed into the car behind him.

 

Jerry

The caboose was quite appropriate.

After 30+ years "On The Job" I still say, "people are their own worst enemy."  And they NEVER fail to disappoint!    Just sayin'.

Chief Bob (Retired)

We have met the enemy, and he is us.

I think this is a quote from the cartoon Pogo.

baltimoretrainworks posted:

That genius had to have seen the train, plus he left the scene of an accident after he backed into the car behind him.

That's so incredibly common, you probably wouldn't believe it. The backing into the other car and elaving part, I mean.

My day job is handling auto liability accidents. Many people don't think twice about driving off in such a case, and why? Hey, my car is a POS, so why should I care about the other guy?

I couldn't count the number of times when we do track down the owner of he car, they admit they did it but refuse to give you their insurance info, because in their mind, the damage to the other guy is never that big a deal. They'll declare we can't do anything about it because again, their car isn't damaged in a way they care, so therefore they feel there's no responsibility. They often declare we can't do anything about it. Okay, I tell them, keep that in mind when we send this to collections, and I sure hope you didn't have any intentions of buying anything big in credit for a long time.

And that's not even counting the massive number of people who don't even have insurance because everyone thinks they're a good driver, good drivers never cause accidents, so therefore any accident they're in will always be the other guy's fault. All that is backwards logic and dead wrong anyway, but yo can't tell them that.

Just another good reason to have insurance because you should never, EVER count on not being at fault for any losses you're in or even if you're not to blame, that the oher driver will agree that's what happened or even ever call their insurance company in the first place.

And yes, many companies will refuse to pay if they never talked to their driver because in that case, you probably won't be able to prove the accident occurred as you described it.

Don't count on a police report helping you. Any idiot can fil a report saying whatever the heck they told the cops. I've seen it countless times, a police report filed long after the accident, from one person's version with no way to back it up. Insurance companies know this because it happens all the time.

Sorry, went off the rails there, but it's all true.

Good god this is something out of comic strip.The guy in the red car will not have that car.To much longer if thats the way  he drives.

Sam Jumper posted:

Should someone from the railroad crew got off and flag the crossing as the train crossed? Save the money on crossing signals and simply have trains slow to these crossings? This doesn't seem like such a big deal.

There is crossing signs there so what difference would that make as the crossing signs where put in place to eliminate that need. 

And to the original question We see how stupid they can be every day. 

How Stupid Can Drivers Be With Trains?

Ask my operators! Ha Ha.

And if he had not gotten off the tracks, the headline would have read:

TRAIN HITS CAR and not the other way around.  The headline should read...Dumbass Causes Wreck.

Ya gotta give the driver credit, he did give the engineer 2 tries to nail him (plus the others who crossed during the crossing).

What the city/RRs ought to do is place train activated cameras at each crossing to get the license number.  Convict the driver and make him/her stand at the crossing with a red flag to stop the traffic for a week.

We could just do this...

I was on the road for 40 years and  saw a lot.  My attitude was 50% of the drivers were too stupid to be on the road and they were trying to kill me. Actually, I think this episode was, sort of, mild.

As to what P51 says, your right about that as well as what other people said. When I watched it for the first time I thought it would be another one that the train hits the car and I wouldn't of posted that, but because of how the car backed into the other car, that was the interesting part and then he drives off even when he still approaching but a little slower. I was confused though why he didn't get off and flag the crossing even though his horn was blowing. Sometimes people don't hear trains anyway when there to distracted. But as a side note, that's why railroads today have OLS - Operation Life Saver.

p51 posted:

baltimoretrainworks posted:

That genius had to have seen the train, plus he left the scene of an accident after he backed into the car behind him.

That's so incredibly common, you probably wouldn't believe it. The backing into the other car and elaving part, I mean.

My day job is handling auto liability accidents. Many people don't think twice about driving off in such a case, and why? Hey, my car is a POS, so why should I care about the other guy?

I couldn't count the number of times when we do track down the owner of he car, they admit they did it but refuse to give you their insurance info, because in their mind, the damage to the other guy is never that big a deal. They'll declare we can't do anything about it because again, their car isn't damaged in a way they care, so therefore they feel there's no responsibility. They often declare we can't do anything about it. Okay, I tell them, keep that in mind when we send this to collections, and I sure hope you didn't have any intentions of buying anything big in credit for a long time.

And that's not even counting the massive number of people who don't even have insurance because everyone thinks they're a good driver, good drivers never cause accidents, so therefore any accident they're in will always be the other guy's fault. All that is backwards logic and dead wrong anyway, but yo can't tell them that.

Just another good reason to have insurance because you should never, EVER count on not being at fault for any losses you're in or even if you're not to blame, that the oher driver will agree that's what happened or even ever call their insurance company in the first place.

And yes, many companies will refuse to pay if they never talked to their driver because in that case, you probably won't be able to prove the accident occurred as you described it.

Don't count on a police report helping you. Any idiot can fil a report saying whatever the heck they told the cops. I've seen it countless times, a police report filed long after the accident, from one person's version with no way to back it up. Insurance companies know this because it happens all the time.

Sorry, went off the rails there, but it's all true.

Of course this could come back and bite you.  But if locomotives have cameras, why not cars...............?

Odd.  The train had an old Chessie Operation Lifesaver caboose.

A simple camera aimed at license-plate height, just like for the fools who run toll booths.  Isn't there some sort of civil/criminal charge for this stupidity?  And it wasn't only the one in the red car who thought driving in front of a train was smart.  And to read that this incident was relatively mild?  Yikes.  I'm staying outa that town.

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Well Dominic, how do you think those people in third world countries have car insurance? Yes it's TTY he dash cam. And you can have one or two or three,etc. If the price is right!��

Btw, I just came back from Philly where we parked our car for the weekend in the convention center parking garage. From the signage, you go in and all the way up then down the other side. I can't tell you that I saw at least three stupid idiot's trying to drive down the up ramp then get stuck At the entrance where there is a sharp curve with a 5' high wall.

That is the epitome of stupidity.  

Anybody notice the other two idiots dashing across the front of the locomotive?

If they flagged the crossing, one of them probably would have run over the flagman...

Rusty

Did you guys watch the same video that I did?
Did the video poster actually watch his own before posting?

Before blasting only the guy in the red car. Did you notice that the road was controlled by a traffic light? Did you notice that when the light turned green other cars took off through the intersection, seemingly without looking both ways and noticing the train or did they see the train stopped and thought it was being nice and letting them pass? In everyday life, how many of you have pulled ahead in your car only to have something happen to cause you to back up real quick and not look in your rear view mirror before doing so, then notice another car right on your own bumper? That was just a "love tap" and despite everyone's squalling, it didn't appear any real damage was done.

Crossings just like this where the traffic light or stop signs are on the wrong side of the tracks are a big pain in the butt. They create a life threatening situation by allowing room for vehicles to foul the tracks while waiting for traffic to clear. They back traffic up across the tracks right into harms way. We had several like this on the mainline...read 50 - 60 mph train speed territory! One crossing in particular was used heavily by trucks that blocked the tracks if they stopped at the stop sign. Now, the RR rule book reads Safety First! However, when it comes to spending money, many times that slogan flies out the window! 

I would suspect that in this case, probably none of those people had ever seen a train use those tracks. The train speed was low enough where there was never any danger of any car getting hit. The long lens of the camera compressing the view makes things seem a lot closer than they probably really were and thus giving viewers a reason to have a knee-jerk reaction to what they are seeing.

Should a crew member got off and flagged the crossing? Probably, but, notice the snow and maybe ice on the ground making walking hazardous in itself, so, I don't fault the crew for not wanting to get down. There should have been a "Stop Here On Red Light" sign placed where the cars would stop before fouling the tracks. But, just as one panics and doesn't think before backing up, so too, the railroad hasn't taken precautions to protect the train movement from vehicles blocking the tracks.

So, don't be so quick to jump on the "guy in the red car is a so and so" train. There is more than enough blame to be spread around to others.

Big Jim posted:

Did you guys watch the same video that I did?
Did the video poster actually watch his own before posting?

Before blasting only the guy in the red car. Did you notice that the road was controlled by a traffic light? Did you notice that when the light turned green other cars took off through the intersection, seemingly without looking both ways and noticing the train or did they see the train stopped and thought it was being nice and letting them pass?

So, don't be so quick to jump on the "guy in the red car is a so and so" train. There is more than enough blame to be spread around to others.

The trick is when the light is red, don't stop on the tracks, train or no train.  Mr. red car had plenty of opportunity to stop short of the tracks.

Rusty

All in a train crews days work... I suspect this crew is accustomed to this everyday. The engineman did  or almost   came to complete stop before fouling the crossing ..   No big deal.  This is definitely not a main track with high speed trains. The crew just wants to deliver the car to the customer  and maybe even have coffee if a  Tim Horton's  close by.

What stuck me (no pun intended) was how "Mr. Red Car" first stopped -- the correct behavior -- but apparently not realizing or clueless that the front end of the car was on the tracks.  Makes me wonder what was up with the driver -- like maybe there was more than a Tim Horton's around or s/he was texting.  To me, the other drivers who crossed the tracks are just impatient bozos -- even factoring in lens compression, speed, and all.

Near Ayer, MA, I get a kick out of the well-mannered drivers who patiently line up at a RR-crossing for what seems like an eternity before one-by-one, they figure out that the slow-moving 100 or so car freight train is going forward, stopping, and then backing up.  They then civily back-up and turn around. MA drivers are famously ill tempered, which makes this so surprising at a RR-Xing.

TRRR

The red car may have made a left then stopped

 

Mr. Red car was going to make a right turn. He properly stopped before proceeding with his turn, then realized that he couldn't turn because of the street traffic. How many of you think the guy behind him had no clue about the train and didn't give Mr. Red Car room to back up? 

Rusty Traque posted:

Big Jim posted:

Did you guys watch the same video that I did?
Did the video poster actually watch his own before posting?

Before blasting only the guy in the red car. Did you notice that the road was controlled by a traffic light? Did you notice that when the light turned green other cars took off through the intersection, seemingly without looking both ways and noticing the train or did they see the train stopped and thought it was being nice and letting them pass?

So, don't be so quick to jump on the "guy in the red car is a so and so" train. There is more than enough blame to be spread around to others.

The trick is when the light is red, don't stop on the tracks, train or no train.  Mr. red car had plenty of opportunity to stop short of the tracks.

Rusty

Which is why I said there should be a sign before the crossing that says "STOP HERE ON RED LIGHT"!!!

Big Jim posted:

That was just a "love tap" and despite everyone's squalling, it didn't appear any real damage was done.

Man, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that...

Even a small car is going to weigh in at more than a ton, and rolling into another car with a bumper cover made of thin sheet metal of composite materials, you really think nothing's going to happen?

Of course you do. So does anyone else when it's the other guy's car that got hit.

The truth is very few cars can take a 5MPH impact with no damages. The first runs of modern VW beetles were the first car that could do that, but hardly any company followed suit. Slow-speed impacts are seriously misunderstood by the driving public.

Big Jim posted:

Mr. Red car was going to make a right turn. He properly stopped before proceeding with his turn, then realized that he couldn't turn because of the street traffic. How many of you think the guy behind him had no clue about the train and didn't give Mr. Red Car room to back up?

Maybe there was a car too close to the rear bumper of the guy who was behind the red car?

The other thing that he forgot is "Never stop on the railroad tracks."

A few years ago due to a traffic light, a school bus stopped on the tracks in suburban Chicago and got crushed by a commuter train with many deaths.

Ron M

Rusty Traque posted:

The trick is when the light is red, don't stop on the tracks, train or no train.  Mr. red car had plenty of opportunity to stop short of the tracks.

Rusty

He is probably thinking that he needs to be there in order to make a right. Not only a "stop here on red" sign before the tracks, but also a "no turn on red" sign would be helpful at intersections such as this, and much cheaper than whatever "state of the art crossing protection" the videographer is suggesting.

ron m posted:

The other thing that he forgot is "Never stop on the railroad tracks."

A few years ago due to a traffic light, a school bus stopped on the tracks in suburban Chicago and got crushed by a commuter train with many deaths.

Ron M

More than a few years ago... 21 years ago now, in Fox River Grove:

The rear of the bus was hanging over the tracks when the traffic light turned red.  The timing of the traffic signals was not long enough to allow traffic to clear when the grade crossing activated.

Rusty

I can tell you as somebody that lives near Holland, MI, The drivers on this side of the state ( Southwest Michigan) are some of the dumbest drivers I have ever seen. I'm surprised their brain has enough energy to make their legs move and it gets worst in the winter time.

I doubt that multiple signs would work.

On my normal route home from work is an intersection at a freeway on ramp.  There are five signs within 35 yards of the intersection, each stating "Do not pass on shoulder" yet, every evening as I am sitting in line patiently waiting for the light to change so I may make a right turn up the on ramp, at least a half dozen vehicles will pass on the shoulder despite the signs.  

And at least once a week I see a near miss as the vehicle at the head of the line makes a right turn once the light turns green and narrowly misses one of the "special people" for whom the "Do not pass on shoulder" signs apparently don't apply.

I am convinced we have created multiple generations for whom common sense, patience and courtesy no longer exist.

Curt

DennyM posted:

I can tell you as somebody that lives near Holland, MI, The drivers on this side of the state ( Southwest Michigan) are some of the dumbest drivers I have ever seen.

Each state has their own issues.

In Florida where I was raised, it was very common for rednecks going opposite directions to stop along a road if they knew each other, plug up the entire road in each direction to have a conversation for as long as they wanted. I so badly wanted a James Bond car with bazookas installed for such cases.

In WA state where I live now, people drive whatever speed they want in whatever highway lane they want to do so. People here have zero concept of fast traffic goes in the left lane. Folks will be putting along at 10+ miles under the speed limit with dozens of cars backed up behind them in the fast lane, totally not caring. And if you know someone who does it, and you ask, they'll smugly declare they were right because nobody else needed to go faster than they were.

Denny, did you know you live in one of the few 'no fault' states in the country? Even if everyone agrees the other driver caused the loss, they don't owe you anything other than to $1000 for your deductible max and no pain and suffering for injuries unless you were permanently disabled or disfigured? Whiplash gets you nothing. "no fault" is also badly misunderstood as many people think they live in such states (really, they just don't wanna be responsible for the loss they caused) but you really live in such a state. I've been handling loss for you state for a little while now.

P51, thanks for the heads up, we are driving there in Oct.  Are you saying that you do not pay for vehicle damage even if more than 1000?

In MI, the most you're liable for ever is $1000 on property damage when the other vehicle is in motion. If it's parked, normal liability applies like it would in most other states if you hit their parked car. The 'no fault' stuff mostly refers to accidents where both cars are being driven. If you're not a MI resident, there'll be some odd handling and confusion from your claims people if they don't know MI very well as it's such an odd state.

juniata guy posted:

 

I am convinced we have created multiple generations for whom common sense, patience and courtesy no longer exist.

Curt

Or any concept of the "Rule of Law", or how this Republic actually operates!