Passenger Trains > Woman Swerves to Avoid Crossing Gates at Jacksonville

This is a new one on me.
Woman said she had to swerve to avoid the crossing gates this morning, plowed into the second unit of the Silver Star.
They need to get rid of those dangerous crossing gates. 

Those pesky crossing gates should never come down when a car is approaching. Had there not been a recently added 2nd unit, she'd have plowed into the first coach. They need to put baggage car up front. Safety is more important than the supposedly rear sleeper swaying, not that anyone throws up in the rear Amcoach at either 79 or 125 MPH. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/19 12:58 by joemvcnj.

Evidently no warning of the warning.
Plus the red lights are blinding, and the stupid bell, stop me before I freak out.
 

here's a link but it's only 19 seconds,https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/woman-walks-away-uninjured-after-car-collides-with-amtrak-train-in-nw-jacksonville/77-52ef7744-c168-4396-b53e-e35180261787

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Perhaps playing with her phone, not seeing gates lowering, then all she can do is swerve, too late to brake. 

First, her driving privileges should be suspended....perminently....unless it is found there was something wrong with the vehicle. Is it just me, or do Florida and California seem to have more than their share of crossing incidents?   I once had a boss who lived in Miami and commuted to Detroit monthly. He told us about an elderly woman who flipped her car (no pun intended) at a Burger King drive through hitting the gas instead of the brake and hitting a curb.. So I guess anything is possible.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Those pesky crossing gates should never come down
> when a car is approaching. Had there not been a
> recently added 2nd unit, she'd have plowed into
> the first coach. They need to put baggage car up
> front. Safety is more important than the
> supposedly rear sleeper swaying, not that anyone
> throws up in the rear Amcoach at either 79 or 125
> MPH. 



Why not two or five extra baggage cars? Could use covered hopper buffers like crude trains.

Can you ever be too safe?

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>Is it just me, or do Florida and California seem to have
> more than their share of crossing incidents?

Could it be that Florida and California have lots of people and railroad track? You think???

The Google streetview shows a straight line two lane road crossing the tracks.  Two overhead railway flashers on each side, and two side of the road flashers. Gates on both sides. 

This driver must have been seriously distracted not to see / hear all of the warnings.

 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This driver must have been seriously distracted
> not to see / hear all of the warnings.
>
>  

Happens every bloody day...

Well, see, the lane markings don't extend across the crossing, so she clearly got disoriented and had trouble following the road...

He doesn't.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >Is it just me, or do Florida and California seem
> to have
> > more than their share of crossing incidents?
>
> Could it be that Florida and California have lots
> of people and railroad track? You think???

calsubd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> here's a link but it's only 19
> seconds,https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/new
> s/local/woman-walks-away-uninjured-after-car-colli
> des-with-amtrak-train-in-nw-jacksonville/77-52ef77
> 44-c168-4396-b53e-e35180261787

I learned something new -  she hit between the "two engine cars" - I guess "engine car" is one of those professional railroader terms, huh?  

Which "engine car" was the conductor driving from ? 

Good News reporting is seriously lacking around here

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

calsubd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good News reporting is seriously lacking around
> here

Indeed.

Places like Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, etc are way stops for media people as they work up the ladder from Fort Myers, Cedar Rapids, Wichita, Spokane, etc. And put out their rolls to stations in Miami, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, etc

On the larger issue of re-testing drivers every few years, it's an incredibly sensitive issue in Florida.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On the larger issue of re-testing drivers every
> few years, it's an incredibly sensitive issue in
> Florida.

As it is in most areas with large populations of retirees.  Usually comes up right after grandma "confuses" the gas pedal for the brake and puts her car some place it shouldn't be. 

BigDave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I learned something new -  she hit between the
> "two engine cars" - I guess "engine car" is one of
> those professional railroader terms, huh?  

The problem is that people today demand their news immediately and news companies make it their goal to get the news stories out as quickly as possible to beat their competition. This unfortunately results in errors and goofs like the one in the above story. Imagine being told that you have to write a news article about something that just happened in a subject that you know nothing about and it has to be published ASAP. During my academic career, I did quite a bit of journalism and being up against a deadline and having to write a quality story can be a tall order. I know jack s**t about boats and if I was told I have to write a story about a boating accident, it would probably contain a few boat terms unintentionally used incorrectly that people on boating enthusiast message boards (Boatorders.com?) would find amusing. 

So, how long before the driver sues Amtrak for
"willful and malicious damage" to her automotive
vehicle (just trying to prevent confusion with railroad
"engine cars").

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > On the larger issue of re-testing drivers every
> > few years, it's an incredibly sensitive issue
> in
> > Florida.
>
> As it is in most areas with large populations of
> retirees.  Usually comes up right after grandma
> "confuses" the gas pedal for the brake and puts
> her car some place it shouldn't be. 

You guys might be onto something.   Force the old folks out of their cars and into mass transit.....one way to boost the numbers that seem to be dropping as posted by Duna.    



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/19 07:11 by JohnM.