If you ever complained about rough railroad crossings or where you would have to slow way down to almost a stop to safely cross without doing damage to your car? Check out the videos and feel good about your rough crossing in your neighborhood
I have experienced intersections with divided highways that had similar characteristics.
Looks to me like a good argument for disabling those (fillintheadjective) airbags!!!
Just what is the speed limit along there?
(Aside - just as the airbag deployed, Google Ads popped up a two-liner for an injury attourney!)
Chuck
Looks like the crossing on is a main line (vs some podunk branch line in the middle of nowhere) - I would think that it would have been maintained better.
That’s one thing I’m wanting to know after watching that. Seemed to be traveling pretty fast for a city street. Also, why was the driver not slowing down for checking for trains (in case of a signal malfunction) as well as slowing down for an obviously rough crossing?
Kevin
At YouTube there are a number of other videos of this same crossing…eyeballing the speed of the vehicles involved would gauge them as traveling in the 35-45 MPH range … not excactly flying on a divided highway local throughfare and typical of traffic on such roadways.
The municipality involved should have “Rough crossing” sign (and perhaps a safe-speed warning, too) posted on the same post as the round yellow warning sign. But you’ll notice that the concrete part of the crossings that the tracks use is just fine–it’s the blacktop in between the tracks that’s the problem. I suppose that translates to settling or movement in the track structure, though, and is probably the railroad’s responsibility to repair.
…That’s a rather severe punishment to an auto as shown in the video. We of course don’t know just what the speed limit is at the location.
I’ve watched it several times, and in my opinion that vehicle was doing closer to 50 mph…It’s approach is rapid. Perhaps a bit fast for what appears to be in a community area.
Believe that vehicle will have some mechanical damage. You can see something hanging down in front as it clears the crossings, but suspension damage might be severe. It very well could have rolled over as it entered the intersection on the camera side of the crossing.
Guess I’m saying, it’s inexcusable to leave a situation like that in place without some effective restrictions when a vehicle approaches…until it’s repaired.
But…Certainly that condition is extreme and if there is no warning signs or temp. blinkers, etc…There should be.
Local law inforcement people certainly know the potential danger here and especially to any strangers passing thru. It appears to me a temp. sign and or blinking orange construction lights should be on site until it can be determined who has the responisbility to overcome the non acceptable condition of that crossing. And then, get it repaired…!
Since the railroad maintains the crossing, I assume they’ll be paying out lots of claims?
Like anyone would care about the speed limit I mean I’ve seen people drive by me doing atleast 60 mph in a 35 I mean come on seroulsly people are crazy.
Yup I’m the guy doing 60 passing you up in a 35 [:D] Plus, I live in Chicago. The cops here don’t care either! Fortunately they have better things to do than traffic enforcement.
We have a crossing somewhat like that in London ON…actually two.
The first one is at Ridout St going over the CN doublemain…if you are going southbound at speed you get to fly your’n car many feet into the air…as it goes downhill to eventually go to the intersection of Ridout and Horton St. Going northbound…not so much of a downhill…besides, the intersection of York and Ridout is right there[:D]
The second one is the CP crossing grade at St George St…that one I’ve done at speed and actually bottomed my car out at 40mph…crossing it going southbound, the car actually landed about 50 feet down the street…as it goes downhill on the south side of the crossing…[:-^]
Just crank up the ‘off road’ suspension package with 36 inches of travel!
One thing about it. It would sure cut down on the the repete ‘short-cut through the neighborhood traffic’.
Second thought while it might be bad on the suspensions, it would be good for the local repair shops ( sort of a good news[:-,], bad news[|(], scenario[:'(]
The latter was the scenario that worked for the man I worked for in Chicago some years back. He owned a Trailmobile trailers sales and repair operation at 27th and Halsted (now gone?)
There were lots of barely passable low bridges in the area just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway. The signage was wrong for the actual heights, and many were passable in the opposing traffic lane for 13’6" trailer heights. Sure made for lots of roof repair work on trailers with drivers unfamiliar with the area, and from out of town folks.
I think there was a Thread hear in the last year for a ‘level’ crossing in the area between the Dan Ryan and Halsted that had to do with a slight rise and cars jamming themselves under tank cars on the Railroad.(?)
Maybe I should plant my video camera somewhere near those two crossings up here…they would make for some entertainment[:-,][swg]
…These sudden extreme thrusts on a vehicle can do more than suspension damage too…{Beyond humans being hurt}, On a vehicle such as that was in the video, which still has a frame…That might take a hit strong enough to bend it out of shape…Making severe damage to the vehicle and maybe not worth repairing.
But that crossing appears {to me}, to be a max threat for someone to be hurt or worse…Just lucky that person was able to keep it under control {somewhat}, and prevent a head on into a vehicle coming towards it…
If it weren’t for that crossing, that moron may have hit that other car. Would have been a bad wreck.
Poor explorer.
…In any case…If the word gets around about that video record, someone {or many}, may start being heard to get that potential dangerous crossing repaired to a decent condition.
(1) Nothing wrong with the crossing proper, the problem is the approach (that the railroad has no control over and excessive speed)
The thing’s a launching ramp. The excessive speed and the Ford suspension just accentuate the issue. Major violation of the AASHTO/AREMA joint spec on highway crossing approaches
(2) Parallel streets too close to the crossing. Stooopid design element #2. (somebody wasn’t thinking)
FIX THE APPROACHES. Who allowed the condition to exist at city/county level?
[soapbox][soapbox][soapbox]
Without a doubt one of the biggest traffic engineering headaches around and often not dealt with very well. Of course, that comes from the ages old practice of running roads next to the tracks because the RR locating engineers did a really good job picking a route.
Double [soapbox][soapbox] times your triple, mud.