CAUGHT ON CAM: train strikes flatbed 18 wheeler!

[SilverBullet432]

Must be a horrible thing to see/clean up.

[jpmuscle]

The wife's cousin is an engineer and he told me something like this is his worst nightmare. On two occasions he has had people commit suicide by stopping their car on the tracks in front of him.

Last summer we had a local teenager do something similar. But the individual simply walked out in front of the on coming train and laid down on the tracks.

[jerrysimons]

I always wonder what the engineer on that train is thinking as it is barreling down on a collision like that.

"Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it..."

And "Oh ****, is my cell phone off?"
FRA pulls phone records after grade crossing collisions and will fire him faster than he can blink if his phone was merely turned on.

If it is a fuel tanker:

"Oh ****!"

If it is another train:

He is not thinking anything but trying to get out the door fast enough to bail after dumping the emergency brakes and hoping the train is going slow enough by the time he jumps not to kill himself from the fall.

[The_War_Wagon]

What RR crossing gate is so strong that a truck could not break it by driving right through it?

The damage sure as heck would have been less severe/costly than what ended up happening.

Look at the video again - the trailer got high-centered - stuck - on the tracks. Usually there's a warning given to the truckers, from companies near such tracks, about NOT using that particular crossing - but the GPS that the TRUCKERS are glued to, WON'T tell them that...

[SilverBullet432]

Look at the video again - the trailer got high-centered - stuck - on the tracks. Usually there's a warning given to the truckers, from companies near such tracks, about NOT using that particular crossing - but the GPS that the TRUCKERS are glued to, WON'T tell them that...

Very true, like i said, there are pipeyards nearby. Im sure this guy was trying to find an easier route.

[TacticalSledgehammer]

"Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it..."

And "Oh ****, is my cell phone off?"
FRA pulls phone records after grade crossing collisions and will fire him faster than he can blink if his phone was merely turned on.

If it is a fuel tanker:

"Oh ****!"

If it is another train:

He is not thinking anything but trying to get out the door fast enough to bail after dumping the emergency brakes and hoping the train is going slow enough by the time he jumps not to kill himself from the fall.

Exactly. We almost ran over a 4-5 yr old boy yesterday pushing his bike along side the tracks (60mph track). Where his parents were is beyond me. It seems like I experience something of this nature about every other trip.

[Mac5.56]

I have a friend who works for CSX "Maintenace of Way", he's told me that engineers almost never apply emergency braking due to the very real chance of derailing cars. He said that in most cases they will apply the breaks but depending on whats on the track its sometimes best to hit it with enough force to knock it clear to further avoid a derailment. I don't know anyone who could confirm the information, but it seems plausible.

Isn't that the same philosophy as: It's better to kill a deer then to swerve and flip your vehicle?

I know nothing about the rail industry but safety procedures are all about mitigating risk and minimizing accidents in the best, most logical and statistically plausible way possible. In many of the industries I have had contact with over the years this has meant in certain incidents that letting someone possible die or suffer is safer for the group then doing something rash.

In regards to trains I always figured hitting the car and killing the occupants was way better in the long run the causing a derailment.

[AKDoug]

The only place to high center a flatbed like in that situation is at the landing gear. Getting high centered on your landing gear is usually the result of the driver being too damn lazy to crank it up.

I drive a rig almost identical to that, I've been guilty of it myself. I was very embarrassed one day in front of our local truck stop when I ground out and stuck my gear on the center of the highway. Good thing there wasn't much traffic and I didn't hurt he gear. I cranked it up quick and got out of there. That day I vowed never to be too lazy to crank it all the way up.

I've also taken out a railroad crossing arm out. A bus was stopped at the tracks and I was behind him. He did his open the door and look thing and pulled away. I looked both ways and started to move. It takes a while to get 88,000# moving and all the sudden the arm starts to drop (can't see the train around the corner) I just said **** it and rolled on, taking the arm with me. Train roared by just fine. I called in to 911 to report the incident (very rural area) and waited for commercial vehicle enforcement and the R.R. to show up. I was honest about what happened and I didn't receive a citation and the R.R. didn't charge me for the arm.

Another scary thing is the engine management system on some engines. I blew a coolant hose while crossing an intersection and the engine management system shut the whole works off 15 seconds later. 15 seconds isn't enough time to clear anything in a truck that size from a stop. Luckily the truck restarted and ran for another 15 seconds. Two of those sessions got me out of the intersection and on the side of the road. I would have shit if this happened on the tracks.

[Avenger29]

In regards to trains I always figured hitting the car and killing the occupants was way better in the long run the causing a derailment.

Especially if the train is carrying serious hazmat, like the Graniteville SC Norfolk Southern train that derailed several years ago carrying chlorine.

Besides even with throwing the train into emergency the occupants still ****ed anyway.

[SilverBullet432]

Especially if the train is carrying serious hazmat, like the Graniteville SC Norfolk Southern train that derailed several years ago carrying chlorine.

Besides even with throwing the train into emergency the occupants still ****ed anyway.

theyre ****ed no matter what bro. Not even worth causing a possible derailment if you know youre not going to stop in time...

UNLESS: youre in this situation:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qLlUgilKqms