OXFORD - A driver was hit by a rail car on Thursday, and she’s charged with failing to make sure the crossing was clear.
The crash happened just before 8:00 a.m. in Oxford. The sheriff’s office two worker cars were going through the crossing.
Mindy Curtin stopped while the first car went by. Then the crossing arms went up and she proceeded to cross. That’s when the second rail car hit her. Curtin is doing okay.
The sheriff’s office says even though the arms went up, the lights were still flashing and it’s the driver’s responsibility to make sure the crossing is safe.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=41.721158&lon=-91.790962&z=18.7&r=0&src=ggl Here is the location. Its still a single track as it was back in the 80’s when I lived in Iowa City. Doesn’t seem possible the gates would be going up with another “car” (engine?) entering the crossing right on the tail of the other. Trying to visualize this one…
Sounds like the gates went down, she waited for a MOW vehicle to go by, the gates went back up, she assumed all was clear and started through the crossing and got hit by a second MOW vehicle following the first. My guess is two of these MOW vehicles in the same block before the crossing was enough electrically to trip the sensor to drop the gates. After the first MOW vehicle went through the crossing and cleared the block, the gates went up because crossing sensors are set so one MOW vehicle won’t trip the gates and lights by itself. That car doesn’t look like it got hit by a locomotive to me.
A high-rail truck on the UP got hit by an auto at the First Avenue crossing in Maywood (Ill.) a few years ago. Carl?
EDIT: Watch the video on the link. You’ll see the two MOW vehicles.
Yes, that’s exactly what happened. I’ve noticed around here when I’ve seen work vehicles on the railroad tracks, they don’t trip the grade crossing signals at all. The first time I saw this I wondered if any accidents occured with a work vehicle and a car. I guess they can happen…do any of these work cars have horns on them?
How does the sheriff know the lights were still flashing when the gates went up?
If the reason the lights were still flashing after the first rail equipment passed was because a second piece of rail equipment was approaching, would the gates have cleared after the first rail equipment passed?
If it is up to the driver to ascertain whether a crossing is clear regardless of the fact that the crossing signals are not activated, as the sheriff says, why would any railroad employee be disciplined for improper flagging that preceded a grade crossing collision?
It sounds like they are trying to frame Mindy on this one.
I thought that in applications where the MOW equipments does not trip warning device sensors it mustt stop at each crossing and yield to the civiliam vehicle traffic.
As MC states, it’s a rule violation not to properly protect the crossing. These are rules that I don’t often deal with, so I can’t quote chapter and verse.
I believe that hi-rail equipment has some sort of shunting mechanism (better word?) available so that it could go through crossings without activating the gates and lights–or not. Back in CNW days the hi-rail trucks would wait for traffic to clear. UP lowers the gates and flashes the lights and the trucks blow right on across (and the gates don’t always go up right after they clear).
As for other maintenance equipment, I believe that it is capable of triggering the crossings, too. Based on the tamping/tie-replacing convoys I’ve seen, just about all of those machines have horns of their own (even the one pulling the porta-potty), and they will sound them for crossings if they feel it’s necessary (and sometimes when it’s not–remember, I’m observing this stuff in a quiet zone!). What’s really interesting is when a train passes the double-tie gang–all of the horns and sirens go off at once to warn the workers to get out of the way.
The lights will continue flashing until the gates are fully raised. I’m guessing she went through while the gates were still going up. Also; Ive seen odd things happen with short trains and crossing signals; particularly at low speed. In Springfield, OR there is one crossing where a short train or set of light power (total 6 or 8 total units+cars) will go west through the crossing, the gates will go up, and then come back down when the train hits the west end of the track circuit still going west.
I would presume the sheriff got his information from witnesses.
Carl: Shunts are the correct term (usually air activated) and not all hi-rails have them. The issue is having enough axles/wheels in contact with the rail for the electrical or motion (sonic) detectors to pick them up. For that reason BNSF (UP not sure) also has trains or light engine hops with less than 12 axles at restrictive speed until they are sure the gates are down. A curve liner/tamper with 3-4 axles isn’t even able to knock down the gates, much less a pup tamper, a TKO or the host of smaller machines. Some little used side tracks have beaded weld on top of the ball of rail just to insure contact.
I am not sure what the law says where the crash occurred, but in many places it says a driver must stop for flashing lights and may proceed when it is safe to do so. If there are gates down, a driver cannot pass them under any circumstance, even if no train is present. However, a driver can pass the flashing lights after stopping even if a train is present, if it is stopped or moving slowly. Certainly a driver can proceed after stopping for flashing lights if no train is present. Under all those circumstances, it would be deemed safe to proceed according to the law.
However, if a driver stops for the flashing lights and they then happen to stop flashing due to a malfunction or lack of activation, and a train is approaching, then it would not be safe to proceed. That appears to be the basis of charging Mindy with a crime in this case.
I would submit that most people would take the fact of the rising gates, after a train has passed to be a powerful affirmation that it is safe to proceed. It is true that the lights keep flashing for a few seconds as the gates rise, but they do so every time they clear, and most of the time there is not a second train. If there were, the gates would not go up after the first train. Drivers become familiar with the behavior of the lights staying on while the gates rise, and since there is usually no second train, they assume that the lights remaining on do not indicate any hazard. It appears to be just a way to insure that the gates are fully up before a tall truck starts across, in order to prevent the truck from snagging the gates that are not completely in the clear.
It is in relation to the requirement to stop for the flashing lights, that the law makes this stipulation allowing a driver to proceed through the crossing when it is safe to do so. I wonder what the law says about a driver making sure it safe to proceed over a grade crossing that is equipped with lights and gates and they are