Train hits car in Mich.; 5 thought to be teens die

[Rusty1955]

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – An Amtrak passenger train carrying about 170 people struck a car that had skirted a gate at a road crossing near Detroit on Thursday, killing all five people in the sedan, authorities said. The victims were believed to be teens.
The crossing has a gate and flashing lights that apparently were working when the car approached, said Sgt. Mark Gajeski, a police spokesman. Based on witness accounts, "it looks like they probably did go around the arm. They went around the gate," Gajeski said.
The crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. in Canton Township, about 20 miles west of Detroit, said police Sgt. Craig Wilsher. He said the vehicle was heading north when it crossed the train tracks and was struck. The train typically travels about 67 miles per hour at the site of the crash, Gajeski said.
"All of a sudden, there was a thunk," said Alice McCardell, 45, of Dearborn, who was taking the train to a library conference in Chicago. "You knew you hit something but you didn't know what."
The car was broadsided and pushed down the tracks. It was crumpled underneath the front of the train and ended up right-side up, its roof and front crushed.
Gajeski said the car was pushed about a mile from one road crossing to another.
James Reese, 59, of Royal Oak, who was taking the train to an Ann Arbor museum with his wife and grandson and was riding in the second car, said he felt a brief "surge" of the brakes but "no impact and no sound."
"We just knew something bad had happened when the engineer came on the loudspeaker and told us people had been hurt in the accident. Then he told us there were fatalities and we were very sad to hear that," Reese said after the train, which was headed from Detroit to Chicago, returned to the Dearborn station.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090709...jA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNmaXZla2lsbGVkaW4-

 

[Euphod]

This is indeed very sad news.
I've made many bad decisions in my time, and lived to regret them.
I wonder how horrible it must be to have to bear the results of a bad decision for eternity?

 

[JRT]

Where the teens drunk? How can you not hear a train or see the flashing lights and the gate of the crossing?

(Are hearts go to the family of the people in the car.:'()

JRT

 

[tbob]

My heart goes out to the engineer as well who has to live the rest of his life with the burden of knowing he took people's lives through no fault of his own... that's a hard thing to live with

 

[GP_38-2]

Where the teens drunk? How can you not hear a train or see the flashing lights and the gate of the crossing?

(Are hearts go to the family of the people in the car.:'()

JRT

Oh it's pretty simple. You IGNORE THEM, see a simple solution. This goes to show you how stupid people can be (and how oddly that affects their life span).
I'm sorry to say I feel no pity towards the car (and said occupants), this will teach people to play chicken with trains.
But I feel sorry for the engineer, it's not going to be an easy thing to deal with. I know an engineer that hit someone....the trauma it does is unexplainable.

 

[JRT]

I don't have pity for the people in the car either. Its the family that I feel for, losing there loved ones.

JRT

 

[mbv67]

Well I feel sorry for each of the 5 families.

 

[narrowgauge]

Guys

You are being unduly harsh. You should also pity the passengers, whose lives were taken by the driver, he is the one at fault, he made the fatal decision and killed the passengers.

Peter

 

[SantaFebuff]

That's sad, both of the driver's poor decision, and the fact he took down 4 more... There's something golden to be re-enforced here... What is it, oh yeah:

Terribly sad, I feel terribly sorry for the family and the teens. Although the driver is at fault, he is the one I pity most for being so stupid... Unless there was something reasonable that caused the car to drive in front of an Amtrak P40...

Joshua

 

[Tokkyu40]

Shouldn't the headline be, "Car dodges barrier, runs in front of train"? It's not like the train suddenly swerved with no warning.

Claude

 

[Mitchey]

I couldn't agree more. The way these new reports sound often make it sound like the train is at fault. I do not feel any sympathy to the driver of the car, only to his families and the other teenager's lives that he rediculously took. I also think that it is just as traumatic for the locomotive drivers.

I have seen this sort of thing happen in Australia, and I know people who delibrately run the lights at level crossings, and it frustrates the hell out of me. Also I think that trains in Oz particularly should sound the horn a lot more, make themselves heard, whether this is a problem in America or not, I don't know, but I am sure that the Amtrak crew would have doen everything they could, despite the time inbetween seeing the car and hitting it.

Once again, my heart goes out to the crew and the families of the lost ones,
Mitch...
________
Buy Iolite Vaporizer

 

[whitepass]

The car that got hit ran around the car in front of hem that was stopped at the crossing, the whole thing was seen by a surveillance camera.

 

[Euphod]

Shall we attribute this tragedy to the perceived indestructibility of youth then? Really sad, but really understandable given the supposed age of the car's occupants. I've risked my life hundreds of times when I was young, with no regard for the consequences. Just because that driver did so and involved a train does not make it any more sad and stupid ... just makes it more relevant here.

 

[GP_38-2]

To clear you're consciousness remember if the report is true. It was 5 TEENS
Now of course that leaves a few options.
1. They were young and stupid
2. They were all drunk
3. All 5 didn't care that the driver ran around the barriers
4. None of the above are true
5. Statistics say 4 is false

(you all should love the insurance rates for under 25 drivers in the state of Michigan)

 

[diesel9]

IMO, there should be a nationwide law that requires public grade crossings that has gates or lights or both to have at least 1 or 2 surveillance cameras that are also equipped where it can read and capture the License Tag number on the car that crosses the tracks with the signals activated and the gates fully lowered.

Consequences:

First Time - A $500 fine
2nd time - A $1000 fine
3rd time - License Revoked for a month
4th time - license revoked forever

 

[Euphod]

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20090709/US.Train.Hits.Car/

First Time - A $500 fine
2nd time - A $1000 fine
3rd time - License Revoked for a month
4th time - license revoked forever

First Time with Train Contact - An unnecessary painful death, horrible thoughts and memories for everyone that knew and loved you, anger and resentment from those that lost their own loved one due to your decision, and a traumatized train crew, and witnesses.

 

[macca45]

Like teens worldwide, they think they were invincible, but it could be the surface of an underlying situation.
By my own observations here in Australia, drivers licences are too easy to get, and the majority of licence holders do not know how to drive, which is not just getting behind a wheel and putting your foot on the gas pedal.
Driving a car is paying attention to what is going on around you, I myself took many years to learn this lesson, luckily I survived to that point, just pure luck.
The get there as fast as possible attitude is prevalent, where I have to be in front of the leading vehicle for no other reason than that it is in front of me is commonly seen.
We have had similar situations here in Australia where cars have gone through rail crossings with disastrous results, our most noteworthy being a truck driver who side swiped a passenger train killing about a dozen passengers, there were lights (working) but no gates.
Witnesses stories varied that they could not see the lights because of sun glare to yes we could see the lights plainly.
Speed limit through the crossing for the truck was 100 kph (60 mph)

Alex

 

[HiBaller]

Public grade crossings should completely BLOCK the entire road with a dropping gate. This way, there isn't a path around the gate at all.

Bill

 

[Euphod]

Public grade crossings should completely BLOCK the entire road with a dropping gate. This way, there isn't a path around the gate at all.

Bill

Yes, but couldn't that also trap cars on the tracks when the gates go down?

 

[HiBaller]

No more than they do already. In fact, a complete gate would probably lessen the times cars get trapped. There are warning signs at every crossing I've seen telling people NOT to stop on the tracks. Of course, those signs would be ignored just as much as half-gates would. It's a lose/lose situation for the railroad. The only true solution is to elevate or tunnel the road and that isn't practical in most of the crossings.

If the total gate is made of the same stuff (mostly wood or laminate) I bet I could get through it in an emergency if I got trapped on the tracks just my putting my foot down on the gas. Most people who cheat on crossings just take the easy way around them - with quite tragic results. If there IS no easy way around, then they would just sit, fume, and curse their luck at having to wait.

The gates could also be made so that they pivot TOWARDS the stopped traffic. If a vehicle got trapped, all they would have to do is push on the gate (forward or reverse) and it would swing enough to get off the tracks.

Bill