Railroad crossings without warning lights or bars that block street

I couldn't have been killed because the train almost hit the rear of my trailer, not the tractor. If the train was close enough that it could have hit the tractor, I would have seen it and stopped. But if the train hit the trailer, that might have killed the engineer on the train. That would have probably resulted in my permanently having my CDL revoked and ending my trucking career.

I do think that God did me the grandest of favors by having this happen because now I always stop at that railroad crossing and watch it like a hawk for a train before I cross it. The incident did spook me very much. It won't happen again.

 

15-20 mph

 

The back of the truck is about 60 feet from the rear of the trailer.

 

I did think that the railroad crossing is dead because I had never seen a train come through there. If I had seen trains come through there before, I would not have been so complacent.

 

The railroad crossing is between the drop lot for my home terminal and the terminal building. Yes, I go across the railroad crossing several times a day. Since I had never seen a train come through there, i just kind of assumed the railroad crossing is dead. Big mistake.

 

At about 30 yards from the railroad crossing, there is about 50 yards of visibility before visibility is obstructed by trees. When you get within 10 yards of the railroad crossing, I estimate there is approximately 125-150 yards of visibility, which sounds like a lot but really isn't that all much when you have a 73 feet long tractor-trailer to get across the railroad tracks.

I cleared myself about 30 yards out, so I only cleared myself out to about 50 yards.