Crosstown: The Attack of the Killer Train

[wittzo]

I would link to the article on djournal, but it's not there yet...

A woman from Texas got hit by a train at Crosstown. She had pulled her truck too close to the tracks. Drivers around her were honking her horns, but she said she couldn't even hear the train horn until she got hit. She said she was looking for her baby's bottle and the crossing lights were in her blind spot. (Her view was probably blocked by her fat *ss) She said she was concentrating on the McDonald's sign because she was hungry. The article said there was no radio( ) and her windows were up..

Now people are fussing that there aren't any gates there. Idiots. She was nearly parked on top of the tracks, that's not a good idea no matter what state or city you're in.

She's an idiot. Even if there wasn't a railroad crossing there, she could have been hit by a car because she was way over the white line at the intersection.

When Mr. Reed got hit and killed a few years ago, he was proof that old people need to be tested regularly to make sure they are competent behind the wheel. No sane person would turn left on red, much less turn left into the path of an oncoming train..Maybe it was "suicide by train"?

But I digress, people that get hit by trains where the safety equipment is functional or so oblivious to traffic situations are idiots, they don't need to be driving..

[TF Admin]

It was a setup I tell you!!!! When's the last time someone has been hit by a train at crosstown?

hmm?

That's right, it's been a looooong time. This was a setup to get BN/SF to hurry the process of moving the RR out of town. I bet she gets paid good money for doing this! And no, I'm not cynical either! Where's my coffee!!?!!

TFADMIN

[TF Admin]

Here's the story:

www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=205914&pub=1&div=News

She heard the train AFTER she got struck! That means INATTENTION! Could gates have stopped this? Most likely. Could someone in control of a large vehicle, approaching a MAJOR intersection with a RR crossing, and a baby in the back, and scrambling for a bottle on the floor, all the while thinking about the McDonald's sign ((half a mile up the road, I might add))have been alert and attentive while driving? What do you think?

TFADMIN

[granny2young]

Unfortunately this lady will probably receive a ton of money, even though she was at fault. It should be a condition that she not drive anywhere!! People like that puts everyone on the roads at risk.

[wittzo]

If she had stopped behind the white stripe and not had her truck parked on the rail, she would have been okay no matter how "distracted" she was. Some people would call it stupidity. From the looks of the picture, she was parked right up on the track.

She can't make up her mind as to whether she was distracted by the McDonald's sign or the baby bottle. Neither would have mattered if she had followed simple traffic rules. Going over the white line will mess you up, no matter what intersection you're in.

After a few close calls in my reckless youth, I take it easy at railroad crossings. 99% of the accidents I've ever heard of were the driver's fault for ignoring the lights or gates. I know a guy that was killed in Saltillo years ago, the lights were working, the train's horn was blowing, but he still tried to beat the train. The only theory they came up with was that his windshield was cracked or had frost on it so he didn't see the lights flashing and his radio was turned up too loud so he couldn't hear the train. That's a bunch of crap.

Why do the powers at be blame the railroad first and make up excuses for the driver? If someone stood in the middle of a road, it's their fault, but if someone pulls up on the track or too close they say,"The train couldn't stop in time. We need more safety devices to prevent these accidents."

It takes time to stop a train and they can't swerve out of the way. They've got all kinds of sensors that warn them about intersections, so they are attentive, but there's not a lot they can do about not hitting something on the track.

[Crimson]

Yeah, that lady's a friggin' moron. That is a stupid place for railroad tracks but they've probably been there as long as Tupelo... and the city, without a doubt, grows fast. Just since I moved here almost three years ago it's been growing. (Which, as a side note, is a welcome change from the stagnation of Sumter, SC.).

As for gates at the tracks... that'd just cause more accidents as idiots try to drive around them.

The Crosstown tracks should be moving soon anyhow. I don't know if it's my companies project but I saw we had some copies of the track relocation plans.

Right now there are two options. One is to divert it farther down Gloster so that it follows a more paralell line with McCollough. I forget what the other option is. I just went to look at the plans again and they're not there.