jester3681 Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Guys, as many of you know, I work for the railroad and one of our crews was involved in a fatal accident at a private road crossing Thursday night. A group of teenagers was joyriding in a pick-up truck and ran the crossing in front of the train - one was killed on impact, another very seriously injured, two more escaped with minor injuries. Without going into details, it was pretty bad - about as bad as you can imagine.First off, thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims, family and friends, not only of the kids in the truck, but also of the train crew - it's not easy for me to type this, but I can only imagine what those folks have to live with now.Second, I had this piece of wisdom in another thread, but please folks - do not run rail crossings. The train will win. Period. It will end badly - if you escape with minor injuries, as two of the kids did, consider yourself lucky.And once again, without going into too many details, also please do not ride in the bed of a truck. Hate to preach safety like we do at work, but there is no sitation where this is a good idea. And parents of fresh/younger drivers, please reinforce these facts. There's a lot of families now that have a lot on their minds after this accident - I know as a parent I don't want to ever have to deal with this.Alright, public safety announcement over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Wow sorry to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Sorry to hear that man. I do have a question, why don't ALL crossing have gates or at least flashing lights? Is that due to the local gov't like city, county, etc not doing it?I ask because my dads best friend had his son lose someone this way, except he wasn't trying to race a train, he just was crossing in Shelby OH at a very busy place and the train hit him in the middle of then night, killing him. It wasn't his son who was killed, but his son couldn't handle it mentally and took his own life after losing his best friend. Terrible, terrible thing.I've just always wondered why there is a single crossing in the US that isn't gated, or at least flashing lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undr_psi Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Sorry to hear that man. I do have a question, why don't ALL crossing have gates or at least flashing lights? Is that due to the local gov't like city, county, etc not doing it?I ask because my dads best friend had his son lose someone this way, except he wasn't trying to race a train, he just was crossing in Shelby OH at a very busy place and the train hit him in the middle of then night, killing him. It wasn't his son who was killed, but his son couldn't handle it mentally and took his own life after losing his best friend. Terrible, terrible thing.I've just always wondered why there is a single crossing in the US that isn't gated, or at least flashing lights.you can report crossings like this to small organizations that know the right channels to go through to get them fixed. http://www.angelsontrack.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester3681 Posted September 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Sorry to hear that man. I do have a question, why don't ALL crossing have gates or at least flashing lights? Is that due to the local gov't like city, county, etc not doing it?I ask because my dads best friend had his son lose someone this way, except he wasn't trying to race a train, he just was crossing in Shelby OH at a very busy place and the train hit him in the middle of then night, killing him. It wasn't his son who was killed, but his son couldn't handle it mentally and took his own life after losing his best friend. Terrible, terrible thing.I've just always wondered why there is a single crossing in the US that isn't gated, or at least flashing lights.A lot of small country roads don't have the gates, just crossbucks. I'm not sure how it's regulated, but I'm sure money has a lot to do with it - gates are not cheap. This particular accident happened at a private drive - essentially a house on one side of the tracks with the road on the other. Very dangerous, yes. But you would think if you lived there you would be very aware of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbgt89 Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Growing up in rural Indiana, many RR crossings have nothing but a set of signs. Treat them like a yield sign, and don't die. I'm amazed at how many people i see blasting across a blind crossing at 50 mph, even during harvest season when they're jammed full of grain trains. Somebody dies, and all the sudden its the railroads fault for the "dangerous crossing"Would you cross a state highway without stopping or looking? Why should a railroad crossing be any different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightbulb Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Thoughts and blessings to the train crew and vehicle passengers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likwid Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Agree with the other comments, stop and look both ways, not really the fault of the rail.Plus, it's a freaking freight train... how do you not see AND hear it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidgetTodd Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 http://youtu.be/KgUufhwcITc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit12 Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 (edited) Sorry to hear this and prayers sent to all involved.I got a friend thats brother was hit by a train while riding his four wheeler. Several guys were out drinking and riding their ATV's on the side roads late at night around where he lived and this guy seen a train coming so he thought he would beat it and put the train between him and the other guys. He thought it would be funny to make the others wait but he didn't make it, luckily for him it threw him and the ATV instead of going over him but he was beat up pretty bad. He was up and walking in a short time and I couldn't believe that he kept his job and wasn't fired on the spot, he worked for Ohio Central when this happened. Edited September 5, 2011 by bandit12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Just wait son...you're time is coming.It's not an if...it's when.11 years = 4 cars and two people.4 dead total.Those that didn't die knew they'd been hit by a train.They win some, we win some, by we take all ties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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