The local police or county equalivalents are the ones who have to deal with the aftermath. I would expect them to be very interested in gasoline tanker drivers who play death defying games with freight trains.
At least that’s my impression of how things are in my neck of the woods. I’ll be the first to admit that it may be different elsewhere.
Anyone who calls 911, over an incident like this, deserves a fine, 911 is for EMERGENCIES ONLY.
The 911 operator not only has more important things to do, but can do NOTHING in this incident, as there was no emergency. Likewise, the Police would be able to do NOTHING about it either.
Calling the tank truck driver’s company safety dept. would be about all you could have done.
I have been a professional driver for more than 28 years/2,500,000 miles.
Doug
A gasoline tanker deliberately running a grade crossing right in front of a train is an emergency, just as a driver weaving down the highway is an emergency. In both cases it is appropriate to call 911 and report what you have observed, an obvious immediate danger to life and property by someone who is either impared or having mental issues while operating a vehicle. The 911 operator makes the decision on what to do about it.
Police agencies always advise people to call 911 when in doubt.
It is only an EMERGENCY after the train huts the truck, NOT before.
IMHO, this is a case of IMPATIENCE, not impairment, I don’t condone, what the driver did, but it is not the same as impaired driving, where there is a continuing threat to the motoring public. Call the trucking company’s safety dept, and report what you saw, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that the police can do on the say so of an average citizen in a case like this, I still Disagree that it is a case that warrants a call to 911.
There are entirely too many impatient drivers out there, EVEN MORE in AUTOMOBILES than there are in trucks. Near where I used to live in Forest Grove, OR. the interesection of HWY 47 and Purdin/Verboort Rd’s had frequent accidents exactly because of IMPATIENT drivers, I saw it all the time, Excellent, unobstructed lines of sight, straight level roads, but frequent sometimes serious enough for a call to Life Flight, accidents, my Wife often asked, WHY?, are there so many accidents at that intersection? I kept telling her, people just WONT wait that extra 20-30 SECONDS for a SAFE break in traffic(HWY 47, did not have a stop sign, just the cross roads), NO Reason other than simple impatience.
Doug
Well, we will have to agree to disagree. But let me point out an example of police thinking on this.
When I worked in Portland Oregon I came across a traffic hazard at an intersection on a busy street. A construction crew had carelessly placed a barricade in a manner that caused traffic to have to suddenly swerve in order dodge it when trying to cross the intersection. After seeing several near collisions I decided to call the Portland PD simply to report the situation to their traffic division.
I called the regular Portland PD number and was immediately directed to call 911. I pointed out that I did not consider the situation an emergency, just something they needed to be made aware of. The officer was adamant that I call 911. I called 911.
Speaking from experience here:
A gasoline tanker running a grade crossing is reason to call 911.
Experience: I came across a semi truck/trailer stalled right at an intersection, where he/she had broken down. Because of this, people were made to go into the opposing lane to get around it. A call to local PD was answered as there was nothing they could do, unless, 1. There was an accident, or, 2. A call was made to 911 to report a safety hazard with the intersection. Yes, I called 911 to report said hazard.
Most times, police will request that 911 be notified, as they can dispatch nearest unit priority, while they most times can not do that themselves. They can accept calls and complaints, but they can’t make these a priority, it is when ever they become available in the area. 911 dispatch can, and does, make calls and complaints a priority, when they deem it necessary to do so.
A gasoline tanker driving in a very unsafe manner, such as playing chicken with a train, is indeed a necessary priority call.
That is/was a perfect example of when to call for emergency assistance, via a call to 911 dispatch.
Both the carelessly placed barricade, and the stalled truck were cases of ONGOING HAZARDS, that would warrant a call to 911. The case of the tanker crossing ahead of the train, was not an ongoing hazard, the truck cleared the crossing, before the train entered the crossing, there is no longer any danger.
The police can do nothing, unless they witnessed the incident. The police can do nothing about what the tanker driver MIGHT do later, this is AMERICA, you can not be fined, arrested, etc. for what you MIGHT DO in the future. It may not have been a SMART thing to do, but if there were no gates that the driver drove around, it may not have even been an illegal manuever.
We will just have to agree to disagree,
Doug
Ricky and Central Gulf, please explain to me, WHAT you think the result is going to be of calling 911, about the tank truck that crossed ahead of the train, which did NOT result in any collision, damage, injury or derailment.
What is 911, the police or ANYONE going to do about this “Incident”?
POSSIBLY, calling the trucking company’s safety dept. MIGHT get him reprimanded. IF you call a company, don’t get all emotional, and especially don’t exagerate the situation, they will likely recognize the exageration and place LESS credibility on your complaint. I know this from experience, with almost 14 years with my company, I had a driver call to complain about me “Racing” him (doesn’t that usually take TWO, to Race?) and claimed that I was driving 45MPH(really racing!!) in a 35 MPH zone(Brookwood Parkway, Hillsboro, OR). Well, I lived some what near there, the speed limit IS 45 MPH. The “Complainer” went on to brag that he had called on many drivers and had even gotten some FIRED(doubful, few companies will tell you of the action taken) After listening to his obviously exagerated claims, and boasting of calling “LOTS of other companies” plus HR knowing me personally, and my driving record, listened politely, but did not even write anything down.
Doug
Moving America’s freight from “A” to “B” for more than 28 Years/2,500,000 Miles.
Actually, having dealt with desigining systems and processes that deal with documenting incidents, I can easily see why the police would want you to call 911. We basically do the same thing on the railroad, having the equivalent of a “911” center that all calls go through.
Routing all calls through a 911 center provides a lot of useful information. First off all the calls are recorded in one place, every call is time stamped. Since all the calls are in one database it make it easier to spot trends and find chronic problem areas. Since the calls all go to one place, chances are the proper documentation will be done on a more consistent basis. It also triages the calls so the operator weeds out the “notification” problems from the “take action” problems rather than the police themselves.
What can the police do? In the case of the gasoline tanker, relay the information to any available unit in the area. A responding officer can pull the tanker over and have a chat with the driver. Drivers are stopped for far less serious matters all the time.
Where it goes from there depends on circumstances and what the office finds, but at least the authorities will be aware that an extremely dangerous driver is operating in their patch, with potentially devastating consequences.
In these days of coordinated services and centralized dispatch, the 911 center is gooing to better know who is available for an appropriate response to a given location. You call the local PD, and the nearest available officer may be on the other side of town, yet there is a state police officer patrolling 3 blocks away - they won’t know that.
Will they actually be able to do anything? Probably not, unless an actual accident occurs. Even with video footage. But they may stop the guy and question him. He’d likely deny he did what he is accused of, but just maybe he will realize that people DO see this stuff and maybe he won’t be so stupid the next time.
Do also call the safety number on the truck, or the company if you don;t see a safety hotline number. They too will likely have a chat with the driver, who will probably deny everyhing, but at least he knows people are watching and seeing what’s going on.
–Randy