PTL versus BNSF

Here in Colorado, BNSF has horns on a pole. Keeps sound much more localized. Easy to spot as there's an orange flashing 'X' directed down the track to let crews know the horn is online so they don't have to blow theirs. They aren't loud enough, but an explosion won't stop the stupid ones.

 

Some of these guys you could grab by the hair and bounce their face off the trains cow bumper until it leaves an indent and they would go right back to their truck and drive right infront of and be hit by the train anyway and be confused what happened.

Its not bloody hard to look both directions but thats a skill many seem to lack.

 

I think all rr crossings should be treated like 4 way stops. It’s about time these pesky trains learn the rules of the road.

 

Well worth the money.

 

Just some observations here.
The FRA has reams of data on these kind of accidents. Example, after many studies they instituted the blast the horn requirement for all at grade crossings where a public highway crosses the RR in 1991.
As has been mentioned, there are "no horn zones" that can be instituted if the municipality pays to have the crossings modified to physically prevent motorists driving around the gates. I don't know if those modifications are less prone to train/vehicle collisions or not. I will bet the FRA knows.
The collisions regarding trucks and trains fall into 2 large categories.
1. Some sort of humped grade at the rails, truck grounds out. Almost always signed, can be mild (car hauler-lowboy gets hung up) to severe landing gear hangs up. Of course both are wholly preventable.
2. Like happens in this case, historically bad RR/intersection layout, parallel roadway, intersection really bad distance from nearest rail, crossing gates combined with very busy RR and road traffic. There are VERY specific timings involved when the lights/bells start ringing at the crossing, then a very specific period of time the gates come down. All spelled out in FRA regulations according to all sorts of criteria. Studied ad nauseum. Too short of timing, train vehicle collisions, too long timing, people (cars and trucks) ignore them and drive around.

I think we see more of these simply because almost everyone has a high quality movie camera on their person and instant content distribution.
I am guessing in this case, it is commonplace, both for trucks and cars to be illegally blocking the intersection warning sequence begins, truck doesn't have room to move, or gates come down. He freezes not realizing that he can break the gates off driving through them, do almost no damage to anything.

Solution? None. Short of removing 50% of the drivers who have no clue of their surroundings, frequently induced by "distracted driving". And remove all at grade crossings. Neither is going to happen in my lifetime.

 

I live next to the the old Southern Pacific/Sante Fe line that runs coast to coast along IH-10/US-90. Just to go anywhere We have to cross the tracks at intersection at least 4 times. In the last 20 years since our population boom around these parts I see this crap everyday. Cars sitting on tracks waiting for traffic lights or going thru the gates. The best one i’ve seen a couple times in the last 5 years are cars stuck up on the rails like they were gonna drive on them. Lol. Head scratchers on those.

 

"Turn right in 100 feet"

Since the vast majority of our population struggles with even the roughest guesstimate on distances, those tracks draw the fools right into thinking that's the road.

And we all know how the nav systems encourage mindless, inattentive driving.

 

Fixed that for ya!

 

Of all the rail lines in Chicagoland to screw up on ,that driver had to pick the BUSIEST ONE (and the FASTEST ONE)!!
There’s a reason why the BNSF line in that part of the region is called “The Racetrack”!!
Let alone being alive,that driver is lucky when the train hit the trailer,it didn’t derail,nor did the trailer hit anyone when it was being skeeballed through the waiting area/platform of the La Grange Metra station!
Driver is also VERY LUCKY there weren’t any other trains coming through on the other tracks (Metra/BNSF/Amtrak)-it would’ve been a disaster of epic proportions! Especially during afternoon through evening rush hour!!
BNSF Line - Wikipedia