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Injuries reported in ‘Hoosier State’ grade crossing collision
NBC News in Chicago is reporting 11 people were transported with soft tissue injuries from being thrown around. Eight have already been released from the hospital. The truck driver refused treatment at the scene.
The truck appears to have been a covered hopper carrying dry cement. It was cut in half and the Amtrak engine is covered with cement. Video showed only crossbucks at the crossing.
David,
You gave us journalism at its best.
“just the facts, ma’am” said Joe Friday.
That is what you gave us.
Muy Gracius.
Don’t go away…
From a local TV station’s report: “The driver of the semi told first responders he thought he could beat the train.” According to the story, he is not facing charges at this time. http://wlfi.com/2014/10/28/amtrak-train-vs-semi-crash-in-white-county/
What, the truck driver not facing charges? Good God! If that truck driver thought he could beat the train should damn well be charged. that was totally reckless.
Francis, I try not to draw conclusions from thin or spotty information. I said what I knew at the time.
Mel, to me the important part of the sentence is “at this time.” I’m sure there will be both charges and lawsuits against the truck driver and his employer.
David Streeter mentioned that there were only cross bucks at the crossing. My question is, does it really matter what protection was at the crossing? Is there really enough money anywhere to install automatic signals at every grade crossing in this country? In the midwest where I worked a good many years, I saw trucks go THROUGH the lowered gates to beat a train. I also saw the result of a truck stopping on a fully guarded crossing, only to get his truck demolished by the on-comming train. Before we worry about how the crossing was protected, perhaps we’d better check the mentality of the people we put in the cabs of these millions of trucks on our highways, and make sure it’s safe for the general public to have them there. Maybe it’s best to at least get these long-haul trucks off the highway and put them on a train, where they belong - less oil being consumed, and less pollution.
May not have been a “long haul” load on this truck, in which case it would not have been feasible to have been on a train anyhow. Another case where that “beat the train” mentality by a “loose nut behind the wheel” caused a lot of unnecessary grief and damage. At least this time no one was killed
I reviewed the pictures and noticed that there is a yield sign in front of the tracks, while there is a stop sign after the tracks. They need to move the stop sign in front of the tracks and do away with the yield sign. There isn’t even enough room for a car to clear the tracks between the last rail and the exisiting stop sign.In essence, the state is telling you to stop on the tracks. No, i’m sorry Indiana, that’s a violation of the DOT regulations and the state is clearly at fault for causing this accident for improper placement of the stops sign. You’re telling me to enter the intersection on a yield sign, not a stop sign, so even if I crash into another car on the intersecting road, you’re at fault for this one Indiana. Move the stop sign to where the yield sign is or place a protective barrier(gates) to avoid this from happening again. Don;t be cheap about it!