.

Obviously THAT was not in the U.S..

And those gates came down really fast. I can't tell if the lights are flashing either but it doesn't look like they are. Don't know if its just the video but I don't think a car could have stopped in time. Why he didn't just keep going through the second set I don't understand.

Obviously the video does not play in real time.

The real question is obviously why didn't he just drive through the gate?  It's a wimpy little piece of wood, I suspect it'll do a lot less damage than that train!

FWIW, that's what you're supposed to do if the gate comes down and you're on the tracks, just keep driving through.

I thought on quad gate set ups, presence detector loops (in zones ) were placed in the road to understand if there was an occupancy issue, to keep some of gates up to allow an escape. I believe the product is called a "RENO presence detector"which would provide additional visibility to the crossing predictor box

Maybe he didn't drive through because the crossing barrier might scratch his truck? Plus if he snapped it off he would have to pay for that, yeah. After witnessing the just plain ignorant antics of the driving public at grade crossings countless times a day for 25 years, nothing surprises me any longer. His reaction at the end is priceless. I think he's saying, "Dude my truck"!!!

Rusty

I didn't see the lights flashing - but, stop look and listen at any crossing and he would have seen the high speed train approaching

and they want more high speed rail here in the U.S.?

Diverging Clear posted:

 His reaction at the end is priceless. I think he's saying, "Dude my truck"!!!

Rusty

Not exactly what he's saying but it rhymes with that.

I am amazed how the chassis of the tractor is torn right out from under the cab.

Stuart

I hope that no one on the train was injured or killed.  It looks like a very bad accident for the people on the train.

NH Joe

I am in favor of a short 5-question test for anyone renewing a driver license.  The questions would be random, and have to do with common situations, both on- and off-road.  Here are examples:

1.  When stuck on a railway crossing, are you aware that to save your sorry behind you can drive right through the gates to escape?

2.  When on a ferry, is it a good idea to take off your safety belt until the boat is docked? (Hint: Can you swim holding a car over your head?)

3. If you are involved in an accident, are you aware of the legal difference between "leaving the scene" and "moving my car to the side of the road and getting out of the way of all the other poor slobs who would like to get home sometime tonight?"

4. At highway speeds, is it better to swerve to avoid a squirrel, or slam on the brakes, or just keep on driving? (Hint: God will make more squirrels. That's what He does. He won't make another YOU or ME, or your KIDS, though.)

5. If you are driving along and your inside and/or outside mirrors are adjusted so that there is no way that you could possibly see what's behind you, in a perfect society, should the policeman give you a warning, a ticket, or a bullet?

6. Do you think that the law requiring that you move to the side of the roadway and stop, when you see an ambulance or fire engine coming, is a silly law?

Etc.

"I am amazed how the chassis of the tractor is torn right out from under the cab."

Considering that the mass and the speed of that train puts the instantaneous power applied to the cab bolts at several hundred megawatts per square inch, and that a person can break off a half-inch bolt with a well-aimed 10-pound sledge hammer, why are you amazed?

Stuart posted:

I am amazed how the chassis of the tractor is torn right out from under the cab.

Stuart

 

You would be surprised just how little holds a cab to a chassis on a tractor.

New Haven Joe posted:

I hope that no one on the train was injured or killed.  It looks like a very bad accident for the people on the train.

Having been involved in three grade crossing accidents in my railroad career, I can assure you that the people in the train hardly felt a thing.

That frame left from under that cab like a table cloth getting snapped out from under a set of china. The reason is not because of cab bolts being snapped off. The reason is because "cab-over" trucks have no cab bolts. They only have two hinges up front at the bumper and sit on two air bags at the rear with limiting shocks and a hydraulic jack so that you can raise the cab and work on the engine. If you watch the second camera angle, keep an eye on the cab while he is driving over the rails. You will see the cab sits very loose on the frame as it rocks and bounces. Even with standard cabs now a days that have air ride suspension, it is a very similar set up. 

Arthur P. Bloom posted:

I am in favor of a short 5-question test for anyone renewing a driver license.  The questions would be random, and have to do with common situations, both on- and off-road.  Here are examples:

1.  When stuck on a railway crossing, are you aware that to save your sorry behind you can drive right through the gates to escape?

2.  When on a ferry, is it a good idea to take off your safety belt until the boat is docked? (Hint: Can you swim holding a car over your head?)

3. If you are involved in an accident, are you aware of the legal difference between "leaving the scene" and "moving my car to the side of the road and getting out of the way of all the other poor slobs who would like to get home sometime tonight?"

4. At highway speeds, is it better to swerve to avoid a squirrel, or slam on the brakes, or just keep on driving? (Hint: God will make more squirrels. That's what He does. He won't make another YOU or ME, or your KIDS, though.)

5. If you are driving along and your inside and/or outside mirrors are adjusted so that there is no way that you could possibly see what's behind you, in a perfect society, should the policeman give you a warning, a ticket, or a bullet?

6. Do you think that the law requiring that you move to the side of the roadway and stop, when you see an ambulance or fire engine coming, is a silly law?

Etc.

I can assure you that none of the above is necessary to obtain a license in the state of Maryland, or apparently any of the surrounding states... 

Borden Tunnel posted:

Arthur P. Bloom posted:

I am in favor of a short 5-question test for anyone renewing a driver license.  The questions would be random, and have to do with common situations, both on- and off-road.  Here are examples:

1.  When stuck on a railway crossing, are you aware that to save your sorry behind you can drive right through the gates to escape?

2.  When on a ferry, is it a good idea to take off your safety belt until the boat is docked? (Hint: Can you swim holding a car over your head?)

3. If you are involved in an accident, are you aware of the legal difference between "leaving the scene" and "moving my car to the side of the road and getting out of the way of all the other poor slobs who would like to get home sometime tonight?"

4. At highway speeds, is it better to swerve to avoid a squirrel, or slam on the brakes, or just keep on driving? (Hint: God will make more squirrels. That's what He does. He won't make another YOU or ME, or your KIDS, though.)

5. If you are driving along and your inside and/or outside mirrors are adjusted so that there is no way that you could possibly see what's behind you, in a perfect society, should the policeman give you a warning, a ticket, or a bullet?

6. Do you think that the law requiring that you move to the side of the roadway and stop, when you see an ambulance or fire engine coming, is a silly law?

Etc.

I can assure you that none of the above is necessary to obtain a license in the state of Maryland, or apparently any of the surrounding states... 

LMAO!!

In New York the road test includes a short 5 minute drive, usually in a quiet residential neighborhood, in which the student must do the following:

stop at a stop sign

Make a proper right and left hand turn

And here's the big one....

Execute a perfect parallel parking maneuver. If you can safely park a car on a curb in NY then you are certainly capable of driving on the LIE at 75 mph!

Bob

I've always favored having a driver's test be more like the one I took to get a military driver's license.  That was an actual driver's test that tested real driving skills. Twenty of us went for the test, two of us got the military driver's license.

The only thing left out was getting out on a busy highway, that should be the added dimension, just not practical in the time they had to test the applicants I suspect.

I'd just like to see the police start giving tickets for failure to signal, tossing lit cigarette butts out the window, etc.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'd just like to see the police start giving tickets for failure to signal, tossing lit cigarette butts out the window, etc.

And for driving at 50 mph in the left lane when the speed limit is 70.

That too Rich, the folks in Europe actually do hand out tickets for driving in the passing lane and holding up traffic.

And for driving at 50 mph in the left lane when the speed limit is 70.

Rich Melvin, Publisher & CEO

Well in that case minimum posted speed signs are a necessity!

The minimum speed limit signs are just that, minimum speed on the roadway.  However, that still doesn't keep the idiots from riding the left lane at the minimum speed.

Here in New Jersey you take your "road test" in a parking lot at the DMV office. No other cars at all.

Notice the pedestrian casually walking toward the scene on the sidewalk as if nothing had happened...like it's something you see every day...

Found original video, posted on you tube in Jan 2016. Happen in Studenka, Czech Republic.Post says 3 train passengers died, 20 seriously injured.

RSJB18 posted:

 

And here's the big one....

Execute a perfect parallel parking maneuver. If you can safely park a car on a curb in NY then you are certainly capable of driving on the LIE at 75 mph!

Bob

When I took my road test in Brooklyn 44 years or so ago, they had you do the parallel parking on a side street where there was a section of the curb missing - just some dirt sloping down to the asphalt. You hit the dirt, might as well schedule your retest then and there!!! Luckily, living in the Poconos for the last 22 years, parallel parking is a very rare necessity.

P.S. Had to go to Long Island this past Thursday morning and actually was on the LIE... would have been happy if I could have done 55 mph, much less 75!!!

OGR Webmaster posted:

New Haven Joe posted:

I hope that no one on the train was injured or killed.  It looks like a very bad accident for the people on the train.

Having been involved in three grade crossing accidents in my railroad career, I can assure you that the people in the train hardly felt a thing.

You're right Rich.  A friend of mine is a retired engineer who used to drive the auto train from VA to FL.  His train hit a flatbed full of lumber at a grade crossing and he said even in the cab of the engine he only felt a bump.

Scotie posted:

Here in New Jersey you take your "road test" in a parking lot at the DMV office. No other cars at all.

Same in Maryland.

AmbBob posted:

Found original video, posted on you tube in Jan 2016. Happen in Studenka, Czech Republic.Post says 3 train passengers died, 20 seriously injured.

Link?

That video looks like someone puffed a dandelion. The truck driver even walked away. Hard to believe any injuries, much less fatalities.