Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX train hits tractor trailer - Orange Park, FL

A tractor trailer carrying a $240,000.00 sports car got stuck on the crossing and was hit by CSX train.  The owner of the sports car was a local doctor that said the truck had picked up his car to take it to Tampa for servicing. (Must be nice).  According to TV report, the driver was on his way to pick up another sports car when he got stuck on the crossing.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/train-hits-big-rig-on-tracks-in-doctors-lake/32044954



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/15 14:12 by RFandPFan.

The guy in the medical outfit in the photo may be the car's owner....



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/15 20:46 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> The guy in the medical outfit in the photo maybe
> the car's owner....

On the local news they interviewed the owner at the scene.  He didn't seem too upset, must have good insurance coverage.

i have 3 comments/questions ...

first off time is critical ... with every second elapsed the/a train gets closer to the crossing ...

secondly: why isn't the 911 opr not able to IMMEDIATELY GPS a incoming emergency phone call ... here in the Philly/South Jersey area 911 oprs have the location of the emergency call as soon as it comes in ...

thirdly: truck drivers need to be trained that in situations such as this at railroad crossings they need to call the railroad emergency number on the crossing protection housing or crossing gates before they call 911 ... there's too much time lost due to the 911 opr not being familiar with the location if a driver doesn't have location info and having to gather info to make an assessment all the while the train is barreling down on the crossing ... contacting the the railroad first they would have immediate info on the crossing from the crossing ID number and faster contact with the train possibly avoiding a collision ...

Posted from Android



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/15 14:54 by Out_Of_Service.

Southbound Amtraks were held at Jacksonville according to the news report for 6 hours.  Accident happened on single track A line.

New reported also stated that the driver got stuck and called 9-1-1 and told him the gates were coming down and a train was coming.

Ironic an autorack train hit him...

Posted from Android

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
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> secondly: why isn't the 911 opr not able to
> IMMEDIATELY GPS a incoming emergency phone call
> ... here in the Philly/South Jersey area 911 oprs
> have the location of the emergency call as soon as
> it comes in ...
>
> Posted from Android

In many places the 911 operator can only give you the closest tower the call bounced off, but that doesn't always provide much help.  Especially in an urban area would be a lot of crossings to check, if the caller can't read the sign on the crossing!

Maybe change the name of the company to Dimwit?

I would say the trucking company's insurance is going to cover this one, not the doctor's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/15 16:16 by wabash2800.

Cole42 Wrote:
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> Out_Of_Service Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > secondly: why isn't the 911 opr not able to
> > IMMEDIATELY GPS a incoming emergency phone call
> > ... here in the Philly/South Jersey area 911
> oprs
> > have the location of the emergency call as soon
> as
> > it comes in ...
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> In many places the 911 operator can only give you
> the closest tower the call bounced off, but that
> doesn't always provide much help.  Especially in
> an urban area would be a lot of crossings to
> check, if the caller can't read the sign on the
> crossing!

that's my point C4 ... the system you decribe is flawed ...

Not that it's clearly marked for no through trucks....but it is VERY CLEARLY MARKED FOR NO THROUGH TRUCKS!!   Geeeeeeeeeeeeez...

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cole42 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Out_Of_Service Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > secondly: why isn't the 911 opr not able to
> > > IMMEDIATELY GPS a incoming emergency phone
> call
> > > ... here in the Philly/South Jersey area 911
> > oprs
> > > have the location of the emergency call as
> soon
> > as
> > > it comes in ...
> > >
> > > Posted from Android
> >
> > In many places the 911 operator can only give
> you
> > the closest tower the call bounced off, but
> that
> > doesn't always provide much help.  Especially
> in
> > an urban area would be a lot of crossings to
> > check, if the caller can't read the sign on the
> > crossing!
>
> that's my point C4 ... the system you decribe is
> flawed ...

The enhanced 911 system used in much of New Jersey is wonderful, and very helpful for emergency responders, etc.  The system triangulates off three (sometimes uses more) cell towers to give a very precise location of the cell phone down to an intersection level of detail.  I don't know if the system has been expanded to many rural areas, though.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> The enhanced 911 system used in much of New Jersey
> is wonderful, and very helpful for emergency
> responders, etc.  The system triangulates off
> three (sometimes uses more) cell towers to give a
> very precise location of the cell phone down to an
> intersection level of detail.  I don't know if
> the system has been expanded to many rural areas,
> though.

To expound on this, the initial technology of the readout to 911 calltakers is what was previously described; it gave the closest tower and direction from said tower to whoever was making the call in 8 directional increments - North, South, East, West, N/E, S/E, S/W, N/W but wouldn't be able to give exact distance. This was called wireless Phase 1 technology to public safety answering points [PSAP's]. Once it was mandated that all phones built after a certain date [can't remember when that was exactly] be equipped w/ GPS chips, it now narrows it down to within, I think, 300' or even less of where the caller is and should show up on a mapping screen that is part of the systems that PSAP's use. This is referred to as Phase 2 technology. Having said all of that, I don't know if all PSAP's are now required to be Phase 2 compliant or not, so, if this center wasn't, that would explain it.

According to the on-air report I watched from a Jacksonville News station, as soon as the driver called 9-1-1 the gates came down and the train was approaching, so all these comments about enhanced 9-1-1 probably wouldn't have mattered.  Whether the driver waited to call 9-1-1 is another matter, but when he placed the call the train was already in sight.

RFandPFan Wrote:
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> According to the on-air report I watched from a
> Jacksonville News station, as soon as the driver
> called 9-1-1 the gates came down and the train was
> approaching, so all these comments about enhanced
> 9-1-1 probably wouldn't have mattered.  Whether
> the driver waited to call 9-1-1 is another matter,
> but when he placed the call the train was already
> in sight.

you don't know how long he was there stuck on the crossing because it's not noted how much time passed between when he initially got stuck and when he called 911 ... which goes to my point of training drivers ... especially truckers in these kind of situations to immediately call the railroad emergency number on the crossing apparatus then follow that call up with calling 911 ...

Posted from Android

If you can't train an driver not to ignore truck prohibition signage, the other issues of training being discussed are likely far too advanced for this sort of individual's level of comprehension. 

sp8192 Wrote:
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> Not that it's clearly marked for no through
> trucks....but it is VERY CLEARLY MARKED FOR NO
> THROUGH TRUCKS!!   Geeeeeeeeeeeeez...


Part of my job requires me making deliveries in a 24' box
truck. If I obeyed every "no through trucks" sign, a lot of
my materials would never make it to the customer. However 
I do check my route ahead of time on a map and with a phone
call to make sure it's possible...

Jay

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RFandPFan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
 
> Whether
> > the driver waited to call 9-1-1 is another
> matter,
> > but when he placed the call the train was
> already
> > in sight.
>
> you don't know how long he was there stuck on the
> crossing because it's not noted how much time
> passed between when he initially got stuck and
> when he called 911

I believe I SAID that....geez.

sp8192 Wrote:
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> Not that it's clearly marked for no through
> trucks....but it is VERY CLEARLY MARKED FOR NO
> THROUGH TRUCKS!!   Geeeeeeeeeeeeez...

Well in this case this truck wasn't a through truck.  He would have been legal to be on the road as he had a pickup.  Now having said that, he should have been able to look at the slope onto the tracks and determined that getting suck was a possibility.  It is kind of a tough spot to be in.  This company serve a clientele that doesn't want to take the car to a parking lot to meet the driver and they pay for that service.  How many people on TO here can call a trucking company to pick up our 200K car for an oil change.  So this driver has to take his truck into small residential roads to make pickups where there isn't a lot of room to back around.  These type of trucks have an even larger turning radius than a normal semi so I could see this driver picking up the car then having no other exit than to cross the tracks.  Given the clientele and the cost of the cargo this trucking company hauls I would expect that this driver had a long history of safe driving that was lost when this happened.   

There is very little respect for truck drivers.  It isn't an easy job. 
    

howeld Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sp8192 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Not that it's clearly marked for no through
> > trucks....but it is VERY CLEARLY MARKED FOR NO
> > THROUGH TRUCKS!!   Geeeeeeeeeeeeez...
>
> Well in this case this truck wasn't a through
> truck.  He would have been legal to be on the
> road as he had a pickup.

Agreed, according to the news report on TV he was on his way to pick up a second sports car to take to Tampa.   Silly me, I have to wait in line at Jiffy Lube to get my oil changed!!!  LOL