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Western Railroad Discussion > Boulder Crossing AccidentDate: 01/13/04 05:33 Boulder Crossing Accident Author: drgw To take a phrase from Jay Leno: What an IDIOT! Read on, from the Boulder Daily Camera on Monday:
Two OK following car-train collision Pollard employees borrowed car, slammed into side of train near Valmont By Elizabeth Mattern Clark, Camera Staff Writer January 12, 2004 Nicholas Furness says he never saw ? or heard ? it coming. But suddenly the 22-year-old University of Colorado senior and Pollard Friendly Motor employee found himself heading what police say was 65 to 70 mph eastbound on Valmont Road into the path of an oncoming train. He hit the brakes of the dealership's 2000 Audi S4 and skidded 180 degrees, he said, onto the concrete median ? and then into the side of the train. Furness, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt in the Saturday crash, sustained minor injuries. He said Sunday he was suffering from some neck and back pain but was "fine." His 16-year-old coworker riding in the passenger seat was not injured. Furness, a lot technician who cleans cars, said he and his coworker were taking the car for a ride around the block at the end of their day at Pollard. Six front air bags deployed in the Audi when it crashed between the first two cars of the train. It wasn't until Furness got out of the car after the 5:51 p.m. collision, he said, that he saw the flashing lights and still-intact arm block indicating the train track at Valmont Road east of 34th Street was in use. "Evidently, the arm was down, but somehow I never saw the lights," he said from home Sunday. "The impact was definitely frightening." Furness was cited for reckless driving. He said the car, which had been for sale on the Pollard lot, was totaled. Furness said the music in the car was turned down before the crash, and police do not suspect alcohol was involved. Investigators did not estimate the speed of the train on impact. They did report that the train, headed southbound, wasn't able to stop for several hundred feet after the collision. The conductor told police that the railroad arms were down and the train whistle was audible. "This is the first auto-train accident I can remember in recent memory," said Boulder Police Sgt. Carey Weinheimer. Furness acknowledged he was careless. "I learned an important lesson ? I won't be driving like that again," he said. "If I was driving according to the speed limit, it wouldn't have happened." -----End of story----- I doubt this guy has a job today... -Wes Date: 01/13/04 05:42 Re: Boulder Crossing Accident Author: MrMRL <G>
Robby F. (Mr. MRL) |