Eastern Railroad Discussion > Moron of the Day Award

It's early in the day but this scene was captured at 0740 from the Fostoria PTZ Rail cam. Driver slowed at the white crossing line and then gunned it across the tracks. Double stack train was going 30-40mph.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/19 04:56 by JPB.

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Guess he was looking to receive a Darwin Award.  Maybe next time...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/19 07:13 by bluesboyst.

In driving school we are taught that a flashing red means the same thing as a stop sign. So this moron sees flashing red crossing signal, knows he got there first, so thinks he's entitled to proceed, just as at a busy road intersection with a 2 way stop. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> In driving school we are taught that a flashing
> red means the same thing as a stop sign. So this
> moron sees flashing red crossing signal, knows he
> got there first, so thinks he's entitled to
> proceed, just as at a busy road intersection with
> a 2 way stop. 

There also are lowered gates, so the equivalent to a blinking red at an intersection doesn't apply.

I doubt drivers who run around lowered gates think about what they were told in driving school anyway.

Is there not an accompanying sign that says "Stop On Red Signal?"   If so, it means what is says, and is not open for interpretation.

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joemvcnj Wrote:
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> In driving school we are taught that a flashing
> red means the same thing as a stop sign. So this
> moron sees flashing red crossing signal, knows he
> got there first, so thinks he's entitled to
> proceed, just as at a busy road intersection with
> a 2 way stop. 

Yes, so interpretation is "Stop and proceed", just that darned crossing gate, easy to drive around. 

The single red lamp on the end of the crossing arm does not flash, indicating the same as a red stop light (stop and stay stopped)

However with the amount of time some crossings are blocked I can understand the drivers frustration.

Perhaps it is time for a time limit on blocked crossings, perhaps 2 minutes, with sharp penalties for violation and no excuses accepted.

Michael

Everybody knows there's no trains anymore...

Whose going to enforce the time limit on blocked crossings, the same people that enforce the morons that run around the down crossing gates?

And if he gets splattered tomorrow, his family will sue the railroad and likely win a big settlement as "the train should have been able to stop in time"...with lots of crocodile tears, of course.  Juries don't know that trains take more than a mile to stop, on a good day!

The driver, speaking later, said he thought that PTC meant “proceed thru crossing”

There's a crossing I drive through several times a week.  It's also a highway intersection.  A few years ago I was thinking that if they used the regular traffic light, maybe people would stop the cars for trains.  The railroad has flashing lights and gates.  There are highway traffic control lights in front of the railroad flashing lights that are interfaced with the railroad signals.    A few days later I pulled up as a train was approaching.  The flashing lights were flashing.  The traffic lights were red and two jokers passed me (crossed the double yellow line) and ran the traffic light red, the flashing railroad signals, and beat the gates.  You CAN fix stupid but it's usually painful.

John

MdRailfan Wrote:
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> Whose going to enforce the time limit on blocked
> crossings, the same people that enforce the morons
> that run around the down crossing gates?
No one.  A while back I found an article where a railroad took a local jurisdiction to court over a blocked crossing fine.  The railroad claimed that local jurisdictions couldn't place time limits on how long a crossing is blocked due to Federal Preemption.  The court agreed and tossed out the fine.  

Where I work, they've stopped worrying about blocking crossings in most locations.  Especially those locations that don't have much political influence available.  Now I know why.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In driving school we are taught that a flashing
> red means the same thing as a stop sign. So this
> moron sees flashing red crossing signal, knows he
> got there first, so thinks he's entitled to
> proceed, just as at a busy road intersection with
> a 2 way stop. 

I’m not sure what driving school you went to, but in the ones I and my kids attended, the distinction between a flashing read traffic light and a railroad crossing flashing light was made very clear.  The latter is equivalent to a red traffic signal....you don’t proceed until the indication stops.  

Dave

Put cameras at the crossings and then fine drivers who do unlawful things.

Virtually all locomotives in the US have cameras.  That usually kills the suit.