I might as well start the thread…
TV news shows are awash in great footage of an Amtrak California train at speed plowing through a truck trailer at a grade crossing in Oxnard. I say great footage, because it was shot from two camera angles, by somebody who, quite correctly, thought this crossing was an accident waiting to happen.
It’s at a street intersection with a traffic light just the other side of the tracks. Traffic at a red light is all too likely to be sitting across the tracks. As the clip opens, there’s the truck with the trailer stuck between the train gates. I have not yet been able to tell whether the gates try to come down.
A few seconds into it, the Amtrak train comes through at quite a clip. My guess is at least 50 mph. The trailer disintegrates.
The driver was not injured, though apparently some minor injuries aboard the train. The load, we are told, was strawberries. It could as easily have been gasoline.
On the face of it, it looks like terrible highway design, coupled with truck driver error. And it will be a shame if the result is a call for greater RAIL safety. But let’s analyze away…
Could you have imagined a tanker of fuel, would of been like the train in mexico I seen on one of those video shows, the explosion was massive. Driver might of been suffering from road buzz. I drove over the road for years and it does happen. Good drivers know when it’s nap time though.
Heres a link to the VIDEO!! all I can say is that this truckdriver was a Numbskull!!! If he was caught on the tracks as the lights came on he should have just continued to drive his truck though the intersection…
Wasn’t guy filming the accident there because he got a ticket for some reason and wanted to prove his case(obviously,he did) I think he went around the drop arms to get off the tracks, anyone have the exact facts.
1- Driver deliberate, willful disregard of bells, signals and lights.
2- Poor professional judgement clouded by that green light.
3- failure to stop short of the mandated white line (between 50-15 feet of crossing) usually well clear of the gates.
4- jerking the clutch at a attempt to get the truck rolling quckly disregarding the sounds of gate damage hitting the cab and plowing thru wanton neglect.
My judgement is that the driver be made to be finacially liable for all damage, injuries to the people on the train, damage to the train and loss of the cargo and tractor trailer and all associated expenses in clean up (luckily the fuel tanks on the tractor did not get hit)
I dont know of any charges that apply here but I think this individual will be in our legal system for some time to come. If this was a owner operator then the business is probably finsihed. If this was a company driver then the company just lost a great deal of money and is facing increased charges and associated problems that are required of everyone involved in a commerical vehicle accident.
Finally that traffic light should be interlocked with the railroad so that they STAY red when the gates are down.
I am sorry that this has happened but I feel no compassion towards the driver involved. He should have known better. You may argue road buzz, fatique or other problems that clouded his judgement but I would let the courts decide that.
I should say kudos to the camera person who apparently was trying to say that this light is unsafe. I agree because the signals for that road on the crossing does not STAY RED while the gate equiptment is in operation.
Actually the newsman makes mention fo why the guy was doing the filming, during the audio portion of the clip in the link above. He was trying to prove that the traffic light cycle time was too short to for vehicles to clear the tracks. He made his point in spades.
Whether he was involved in an incident at this crossing previously, is unclear, but it would make sense, and provide motivation.
My previous post regarding the trucker’s failure to obey signals needs to be softened a bit. I dont think the driver was able to see the red signals on his right or the gate above him coming down.
Assuming amtrack was blowing the horn for the roadway the other cars stayed put so it’s possible that everyone heard the horn blowing by the oncoming train.
As for the camera man who took the videos from what obviously was tripods or fixed postions at the intersection using probably 2 cameras or two people I am sure they will be asking questions. Hard questions.
I for one will be interested in how this whole thing gets settled.
I’m not trying to defend the truck driver here, but it is clear in the video take from behind, that he was already on the tracks and beyond the signal when it activated. His
Never, never, never stop on the railroad tracks for any reason.
Do not attempt to cross the tracks until you are sure there is enough room on the otherside for you to clear if you have to stop.
This should be in every drivers’ license manual and emphasized in all drivers’ ed class but I’ll bet it is not even mentioned. The danger zone for a railroad is pretty well delineated by the edge of the ballast and crossing gates. Stay out of there and your chance of avoiding injury from a train is almost 100%. I hope the photographer donates the rights to his images to Operation Lifesaver and every state for education of drivers.
I for one would like to see this video played in every trucking school and safety meeting.
Big_Boy_4005 I am aware of the “damned if you do and damned if you dont” and the outcome is set. It cannot be changed. There was not enough time between the light in front the gate above and the traffic behind and the train blasting at you from the left side.
I suspect the driver may have had “sensory overload” and probably decided that his number was up and prayed that it would not hurt too much.
I noticed that everyone in the traffic was right up against the tracks themselves. It is almost like “closest firstest” theory that the closer you are to a crossing some how the faster you will get across. The truck went into motion the instant the light turned green.
You pointed out that the truck may have been too close to the rails and I agree, not being able to see exactly where that white bar on the road is I cannot decide if indeed he was too close to the rails.
One of the things in trucking school they hammer into students is the ability to place the front bumper of a 18 wheeler within 1 foot of a designated white line. There are things you can look for to achieve that objective as well as mirrors that will show the driver his own license plate and everything in front.
I also think that he may have been feeling “rushed” as the cargo of 150 or so 1 gallon containers of jelly hardly makes up two pallets of cargo he probably had multipule pickups to make before he was able to finish getting loaded that can have a great driving impact on a driver who is “driven” to meet deadlines.
A 13,000 pound trailer attached to a 12,500 pound tractor (I forget the exact tares so give or take a little) will provide a good hit to the train. But I throw out the coupler problem because I have seen images of train wrecks where freight cars stayed coupled but folded like a book.
I am thankful it was not fully loaded to 40 ton. It certainly wil
Well, after watching the clip a few times (and I wi***hey had left a few seconds more in at the beginning) … It would appear in my observations that:
The truck had pulled to far up on the crossing to begin with.
He didn’t start moving until the gates were well on the way down (but a few seconds of earlier tape would show how long the lights were flashing before hand…as apparently everyone else noticed them.)
The street lights may or may not be tied to the RR crossing. I don’t know how many are, but it would appear that if they are, it’s timed to give traffic on the crossing time to clear the intersection (not to try and beat the gates)
Although somehow, someone other than the trucker will get blamed, it was the truck driver’s fault.
We have a crossing by a signalled intersection near here that was recently rebuilt. It has well-marked areas which are meant to be left clear when the traffic light is red; flashing yellow signals at the railroad crossing whenever the light isn’t green to alert drivers to keep the crossing clear; and the distance between railroad crossing and intersection stop-line is posted on the street where the track comes closer to the intersection (the railroad cuts across both streets diagonally). For this crossing, there’s a traffic light to stop traffic short of the gates; the light at the intersection itself always turns red after this one does. The intersection’s lights allow vehicles to clear the intersection in directions away from the tracks after the gates are lowered (they’d have to do this for one street at a time, and I haven’t been close enough to see how this actually takes place).
There was a train-truck collision here several years ago (again, the only injuries were to people in adjacent vehicles); this is what precipitated the distance signs. I can’t think of any ways they could make this intersection/crossing safer (other than separating the grade), but I’m afraid that someone will find a way to get his vehicle pulverized anyway.
In Westminster Maryland in the center of town at routes 27 and main street (I forget excatly the name of that street as 3 streets result from this west to east street)
There is a rail crossing that cuts DIAGONALLY across the intersection from the NE to the SW and continues on to New Winsdor. A train goes thru twice a day I think in the morning and again in the evening. These aint small trains either. Maryland Midland brings in Cement thru and other commodities as needed by that part of the region.
When the train hits the protected area of the crossing ALL of the lights for ALL traffic turns red and STAYS red until the last railroad car is off the intersection.
This is why I feel strongly about that light changing while the crossing gates in the accident video was being activated. That traffic light should display RED for the traffic at the crossing and also for the on coming traffic and also. against the turning traffic favoring the crossing. Basically no one should move unless they are NOT going to hit that road with the crossing.
It is quite possible that the lawyers for the trucker and his company (One and same in cases of incorperated owner operators) will argue that the Administration responsible for the design and timing has endangered the lives and property by failing to ensure that a “interlocking” for the signals is emplaced on that traffic signal.
That to me is the root cause. The traffic light turning green, the rest of the stuff about being too close to the tracks I guess is enforceable but the rig has been moving some distance before that crossing gate actually thumped onto the cab (Probably provoked a HUNH? in the driver’s mind)
the thing is, it has to turn green, otherwise people who parked on the tracks would get whacked because the cars in front of them didn’t move. In theory, you are correct, but you have to take the idiot factor, and reduce chances of injury, and the only way to do that would be to have a green light.
Brad
Everything discussed so far is all good…
But what part of
Never, ever stop your vehicle on the railroad tracks!
is too hard to understand.
You cant tell me the driver didnt hear the train…the pick up truck behind the rig didnt move a inch, bet he heard the train!
If he had stopped back where he was supposed to, he would have seen the lights and arms start down…but it looked like he was in a hurry.
With out the lay out of the tracks, we cant be sure he could see down the line, but I would bet he has been across that paticular intersection often, and knew it was a short light with a train in the circut.
Bet if he didnt believe before, he’s got religion now!
You think amtrak’s bad, the metrolink had 2 accidents in a row, both in glendale
1 cornfield meet, & the other one hit a jeep, went out of control, & ran into a UP
freighter, which derailed, spun around, & flew into an oncoming metrolink train.
OUCH ! (This is true)
Amtrack is not to blame during this accident. If the engineer followed the rules then there is no blame against amtrack in this particular accident.
By the way did anyone notice how fast the Decel rate was on that train after impact? That big blow must really clamp some serious braking on the rails. I bet you some folks who may have been walking might have been thrown off the feet.