How can people NOT see or hear the Trains??

Alot of truck drivers are new hires, some are not even US Citizens, some have dozens of moving violations, accidents, and DUI's, some can not read the english language, others just drive recklessly, or negligently, thinking they can beat the train, some do not have a CDL, some are just so tired that they are exhausted behind the wheel ... There are some excelent truck drivers ... so the above does not represent the majority of truck drivers.
 
People are idiots, They prove the Darwin theory, only the smart survive, and the rest take themselves out of the gene pool....
 
As much as i want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, it's not like you can not see a UP engine. They're kinda hard to miss.

It just proves society is getting dumber and dumber. we worry more about what phony celebrity we should be imitating rather than teaching our citizens (and most importantly, the kids, for they will grow up and teach the next generation) general safety rules, like look both ways when you cross the street, don't play with matches, a train can't stop on a dime for you, never race a train to the crossing, what to do in a severe storm, etc. We have idiots who want to drive their mom's minivan into a tornado with a ten-dollar radar on the roof. Stupidity is creeping in on us, and i fear we may already be too late to stop it. God save us all:n:
 
Well he probably had earphones on listening to his iPod and was just over due for his Ritalin because he suffers from ADHD.

I know many many years ago I used to go outside of Madera California to where a guy was going to build a housing complex and he went broke, they had all the streets laid in and we used to go out there and fly radio controlled airplanes because it didn't matter which way the wind was blowing you always had a runway…

On the way out there from Madera there were a couple of unguarded un-signaled railroad crossings. And the trains that run out there on that track are all Amtrak and they're doing 70 mph. I was coming back into town one afternoon and I don't know what I was thinking because normally I would look up and down the tracks before I got there but this time I didn't, I was just tooling along thinking of something listening to the stereo or whatever and I crossed those tracks and I was in a 72 VW van and as soon as I got across the tracks here came a horn that absolutely made me jump through the roof, and the van was shaking side to side. I looked in the rearview mirror and here was this Amtrak going by at 70 miles per hour.

Now I'm not saying that I wasn't at fault because I was, but I can tell you for a fact that this Amtrak engineer didn't hit his horn until after he hit the crossing. And if I was guilty of not paying attention he was definitely guilty of not paying attention as well.

So God knows who's fault this was, and people can pick sides and have opinions about this or that regarding accidents such as this. But as long as there's unguarded crossings sometimes you never know whose fault it actually is.
 
The trucking industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world, and drivers are subjected to more inspections and review than we would care to endure. From the pictures I would hazard a guess that the truck was at speed when the collision occurred, and hadn't just started going through the gears from a dead stop. The driver may had suffered a debilitating health event at exactly the wrong time, or was for some reason suicidal. The investigation will no doubt take into account circumstances I am not aware of, such as terrain that could have led to brake failure and other mechanical systems of the truck. I would hesitate to cast possibly unwarranted suspicions upon the driver at this time.
 
people and trains

people can see and hear trains they just think that thy will move out of the way or stop for them and then next thing you know splat:eek:
 
sawyer811 said:
As much as i want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, it's not like you can not see a UP engine. They're kinda hard to miss.

It just proves society is getting dumber and dumber. we worry more about what phony celebrity we should be imitating rather than teaching our citizens (and most importantly, the kids, for they will grow up and teach the next generation) general safety rules, like look both ways when you cross the street, don't play with matches, a train can't stop on a dime for you, never race a train to the crossing, what to do in a severe storm, etc. We have idiots who want to drive their mom's minivan into a tornado with a ten-dollar radar on the roof. Stupidity is creeping in on us, and i fear we may already be too late to stop it. God save us all:n:
Click to expand...

I agree, dude, I'm in high school I see it every day.:eek: :cool:
 
He must've been going pretty fast to derail a train like that!

Some people feel they can beat a train out because they look like they're not moving very fast and can stop on a dime.

After a few months, I'll check out the NTSB website for the accident report on this. Their investigations are pretty interesting when it comes to stuff like this.

Re: The stupidity of people. I don't think it's stupidity so much as people thinking that a) Nothing will ever happen to them, and b) They or their family can blame someone else for the accident or incident, and get compensation. After all, no one takes responsibility for their own actions anymore.

John
 
...I know stories...

:cool: A Florida Highway Patrol Officer told us in Commercial Vehicle Driving that one of the questions asked of truckers at these National Commercial Vehicle Drivers contests (also school buses, motor coaches, private carriers & just anyone that asked).

FHP: "What is the single largest cause of accidents involving the motoring public?"
Click to expand...

What would be your answer?

Hint: One word...
 
jmeinig said:
Distractions (i.e. music, talking, TEXTING, etc.)

And to mrsci, I hereby bestow on each of you a half of a fault.
Click to expand...

Cha-ching! I heard the prize money come out of the slot machine. :)

I've seen that way too much on my commute each day.

Let's see... travelling at 80 on Route 93 south along with everyone else. Traffic randomly stops dead and then everyone goes 20! Then everyone does 80 again, then stops again with cars going and SUVs taking a dive into the median strip.

The reason some bimbo, yes I'll be pseudo politically correct, received a text message or two, and stopped dead on the highway to answer her messages! I finally got behind her, and every time she randomly hit her brakes, I beeped my horn at her. Eventually she pulled over and the traffic moved smoothly! The thing is there was a gap ahead of her that was about 3 miles between her and the car ahead. Every time some one tried to pass, she'd speed up and pace a car next to her so none could get around!

Sadly where I live, there are uninforced laws about cell phone use, texting, etc., but Verizon who has a very strong influence in politics, weakened the bill that went by the statehouse last year to a point where it's totally useless.

John
 
I think (hang on a sec....)
Okay...I think it's ("STEP ON THE GAS MORON!"), sorry... I think it's...(Damn...I hate this song...hold on...)
That's better, just give me a second to dig for this last onion ring...

Man that was good! (I should have bought the large drink, although I almost never finish them, I'm really thirsty this time...wait...is that a Burger King over there? Hang on kids, this is going to be a tight turn!)

Whew, made it by inches! Anyway, I think the number one cause of accidents is...(CRAP! I dropped my change... here son, hold the wheel while I pick this up....just reach over a steer for a minute...geez, it's not that hard!)

Listen, I'm texting this from the car, and I have a call coming in that I have to take...("Turn the wheel...LEFT, to the LEFT!"), I'll get back later when I can think without distraction.

Oh, I thought I lost this pen!
 
Euphod said:
I think (hang on a sec....)
Okay...I think it's ("STEP ON THE GAS MORON!"), sorry... I think it's...(Damn...I hate this song...hold on...)
That's better, just give me a second to dig for this last onion ring...

Man that was good! (I should have bought the large drink, although I almost never finish them, I'm really thirsty this time...wait...is that a Burger King over there? Hang on kids, this is going to be a tight turn!)

Whew, made it by inches! Anyway, I think the number one cause of accidents is...(CRAP! I dropped my change... here son, hold the wheel while I pick this up....just reach over a steer for a minute...geez, it's not that hard!)

Listen, I'm texting this from the car, and I have a call coming in that I have to take...("Turn the wheel...LEFT, to the LEFT!"), I'll get back later when I can think without distraction.

Oh, I thought I lost this pen!
Click to expand...

Sounds like my commute every day. :)

Speaking of eating and driving...

My bro and I were going to one of those computer shows one Saturday afternoon. Along the way was a U-Haul that kept swerving right then left. At first we thought, being a U-Haul, that the truck was a POS and had mechanical problems.

Well the truck was fine mechanically. The problem was the driver. He was eating french fries from one of the fast food joints. Every time he grabbed a fry from the box, he'd swerve. His right hand moved the wheel over to the box instead of just picking up a fry. It was quite funny to watch because he never took his hands off the driving wheel.

Every once in a while, we still laugh at this when the subject comes up about grabbing something from BK or Mac Donald's.

John
 
Holy macaroni! I have never seen anything like this except for that video on YouTube where that Norfolk Southern trains owns the tractor trailer knocking out the crossing gate and a signal in the process. WHOOPS! :eek: I am one of the safest people out there. Whenever I come to an active railroad crossing on foot or in a car, I automatically stop, look and listen and wait for 60 seconds to cross the tracks, sometimes 120 (2 minutes). But, man people are so quick to get somewhere that they'll take a gamble with a train and that's not like playing Russian Roulette where you win some, lose some. In this game, you lose more times than win and this further proves my point.
 
cascaderailroad said:
Alot of truck drivers are new hires, some are not even US Citizens, some have dozens of moving violations, accidents, and DUI's, some can not read the english language, others just drive recklessly, or negligently, thinking they can beat the train, some do not have a CDL, some are just so tired that they are exhausted behind the wheel ... There are some excelent truck drivers ... so the above does not represent the majority of truck drivers.
Click to expand...

Don't your trucks have tachographs?
Here in the UK you are limited in the hours you drive plus statutory breaks must be taken.
I even had a tacho in my 3.5 ton Transit van plus satellite tracking.
Rog
 
Ghost42 said:
Don't your trucks have tachographs?
Here in the UK you are limited in the hours you drive plus statutory breaks must be taken.
I even had a tacho in my 3.5 ton Transit van plus satellite tracking.
Rog
Click to expand...

Most of them do, and the FMCSA is about to pull the trigger on demanding them on all trucks. The US industry is highly regulated as far as hours of service and the length of a break you must take as well.
 
Hi Everybody.
Apologies again for coming in late on this thread as the health and safety work is keeping me very busy. Still it's very good for the bank balance.

I am not sure about workplace health and safety legislation in the United States, but I would assume when it comes to accident investigation it would be similar to the UK. Here there is very often two accident investigations carried out following any fatal or potentially fatal workplace accident.

In road transport operations the first investigation is the immediate cause investigation usually carried out by the depot management and on-site health and safety representative. This seeks to find direct cause and responsibility for the accident within strict limits. (Example would be, driver ran a red light and collided with train therefore driver responsible for accident).

In a serious accident as the above a second “route or root cause investigation” is carried out by someone completely independent of the local management and the company who seeks to find why the person who directly caused the accident acted the way they did. The foregoing is the work I do.

The investigation usually looks at vehicle or equipment scheduling, maintenance, loading and the total hours worked by people involved with the vehicle or equipment. When it comes to hours worked we usually look at total hours over the last several months for detection of fatigue. The investigation also seeks to detect attitudes to safety in the workplace from those interviewed.

The results can often be surprising to say the least. Often the person ultimately responsible for the accident can be working many miles away perhaps in an office little realizing what the implications of his actions has been.

He is often the person who sets a vehicle route schedule so high that the driver is forced to eat chips while still driving the vehicle or tries to save a few minutes by running a red light gambling that he can cross before the train arrives.

He can often be the person that does not think through the vehicle loading plan which makes for a very unstable vehicle while being driven. He is often the person who schedules forklift truck drivers or machine operators with such high workloads that it is impossible to follow safe working practices adequately.

The above causes the stress, fatigue and carelessness that brings about the accident. In my experience working people do not normally go about with an attitude that makes them run red lights or carry out other dangerous practices for no reason. It is usually the above that causes over 75% of workplace accidents.

Bill
 
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