Our afternoon CSX southbound hit the automobile of a holiday shopper yesterday, reducing the car to scrap metal. The motorist chose to stop on the tracks while in traffic, but thankfully had the wisdom to vacate the car before impact. According to FRA statistics, 2,059 highway-rail grade crossing collisions occurred in 2015. That's over 5 collisions per day. https://oli.org/video/view/see-tracks-think-train-15-vpsa-can
A few motorists in our area have driven into the sides of trains, both moving and stopped. Perhaps they were Darwin Award candidates?
At least it was a car - not a gasoline truck like happened in S. Florida about 20 years ago - as I recall, 5 people in the traffic were killed.
I recall reading of a terrible crash with a fuel truck on the Illinois Central Gulf in the spring of 1975 on the maiden run of their Bi-Centennial locomotive No. 1776. The engineman was killed and it was such a sad event on a day which should have brought great joy.
Old thread, but I didn't want to clutter the site with a new one. NS hit an 18-Wheeler southeast of Atlanta in Locust Grove, GA yesterday (08/10/2017). No derailment thankfully. Looks like a BNSF unit in the lead with UP units trailing. I wonder if anyone used their cell phone for a practical use, like phoning NS at 800-453-2530 to alert the Dispatcher if the trailer's center had become hung up on the crossing? Cell phone video with poor audio not worth listening to anyway: A vertical view from the other side. Note how this driver cautiously shifts into reverse to stay clear of the impact.
From what I can see in the video, cannot say why that truck was there. High centered on the track? Traffic in front blocking him?
A friend of mine is a professional truck driver and agrees. He said that the Driver most likely found himself in a spot and couldn't back up because of traffic, so went for it and high-centered his trailer. My friend once found himself presented with the same pickle, but he instead called police for help. Officers briefly blocked traffic while he backed out.
For safety's sake, I have the Toll Free numbers for CSX and NS entered into my cell phone. Perhaps these might be of importance someday.
Me too, both BNSF and UP for up here in the Northwest. Seems there's no shortage of morons sitting on tracks here, considering we have the nations fifth worst traffic, and lots of crossings!!