Truck Driver Killed By Commuter Train

Because to do so would be a lie. If you are in the unfortunate situation of being stuck on the tracks, THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO is signal trains that may be approaching that the tracks are blocked. THE FASTEST WAY TO DO THAT is to stretch something electrically conductive (such as a chain or winch bar) across the tracks. You'd rather make a phone call and waste time while trains race toward you HOPING the guy on the other end of the line can figure out where you are, which signals need to be changed to red, and get the trains stopped before your truck is obliterated. I'm not saying you SHOULDN'T make that phone call...just that you should place something across the tracks to trigger the system to automatically tell the trains to stop BEFORE you place that call. This isn't rocket science, and you seem to be the ONLY one still having difficulty comprehending this very simple fact of life. The tracks are already obstructed by your truck...all you're doing is triggering the signals to stop the trains. If you don't already know this, trains have traffic signals they obey along the tracks just like we do...green means go, red means stop. You want those lights to be RED as soon as possible after you become stuck on the tracks to minimize the likelihood that your truck will be obliterated. The sooner those lights turn red, the more likely you are to stop the next train on its way through your location. If that light stays green while you're on the phone and that train goes by it, it won't be able to stop when it sees you.

 

Lawsuit time, Mrs Widow.

 

Unless it was dead area you can shunt the track and he will stop, I promise!

 

I think there's a number of folks here giving their non-expert opinions and arguing with the full authority of CB radio. Seeing as people may be influenced one way or the other by reading this thread (with the possibility of spreading advice beyond this forum), it might be more productive to either find a suitable statement or to ask the DOT or various railroad officials to comment on the matter of whether, if a truck is disabled or stuck at a railroad intersection, the driver would improve the situation by dropping a chain across the tracks, or make it worse.

 

Somewhere I remember in the testing I did long ago it stated it not legal to stop anytime on tracks unless they are exempt. Did that go away?

 

Nope. That's still the law, with a serious DQ for the 1st offense. I posted the reg a few pages back.