Passenger Trains > FL: Two BrightLine / FEC vs intruder incidents

First one was in Delray Beach. Honda Accord stopped on the tracks, driver suffered injuries. I believe this is the other side of the same crossing where the fire truck was demolished last year.

Second one in West Palm Beach last night. Two people crossing the track north of the Southern Blvd crossing. A Florida East Coast train hit both, killing one. A BrightLine train was able to stop short of the scene.  I believe the BLF train would have been doing 25-35 that close to the station

ttps://www.wpbf.com/article/one-dead-another-hospitalized-when-pedestrians-struck-by-train-in-west-palm-beach/70655873

Corrected link:

https://www.wpbf.com/article/one-dead-another-hospitalized-when-pedestrians-struck-by-train-in-west-palm-beach/70655873

 

thanks!

Here's a cell phone shot of two southbounds (both 9 cars from Orlando) stopped at the West Palm Beach station on Saturday night.  Talked briefly with the engineer on one - he said they had been there for almost three hours.  As I walked back to my apartment, he finally got the high ball to head south.

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That's a nice scene, thanks for sharing.

Having been to Florida and having seen how many of those Florida drivers drive, it doesn't surprise me--more than one car tailing each other, running a red light at an intersection, pedestrians hit, an epidemic of hit-and-runs... it is a magnification of what I see in my home state but getting worse. Of course, many areas in Florida have much more traffic than here at home. But IMO, it's more than a numbers thing.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/26 07:49 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having been to Florida and having seen how many of
> those Florida drivers drive, it doesn't surprise
> me--more than one car tailing each other, running
> a red light at an intersection, pedestrians hit,
> an epidemic of hit-and-runs... it is a
> magnification of what I see in my home state but
> getting worse. Of course, many areas in

Florida
> have much more traffic than here at home. But IMO,
> it's more than a numbers thing.
>
> Victor Baird

I agree totally. There is an especially stupid class of drivers in Florida. I never pull out immediately as a red light turns green because of drivers running red lights. Yikes.

Bob Phelps
Micanopy, FL

RNP47 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree totally. There is an especially stupid
> class of drivers in Florida. I never pull out
> immediately as a red light turns green because of
> drivers running red lights. Yikes.

That is a good habit to develop anywhere. Florida does not have a monopoly of that type of drivers.

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RNP47 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I agree totally. There is an especially stupid
> > class of drivers in Florida. I never pull out
> > immediately as a red light turns green because
> of
> > drivers running red lights. Yikes.
>
> That is a good habit to develop anywhere. Florida
> does not have a monopoly of that type of drivers.

Correct. Here in eastern Los Angeles county of Southern California, that type of accident occurs multiple times per week.

When BrightLine first launched, the company had to hire off duty deputies to cover the crossings and write tickets for going around, under, through the gates, etc. Eventually, people got the message, but a few still believe rules don't apply to them.

The Quad gates have their own challenges (weaving aginst the direction of traffic and using the seconds between the gates dropping) but some people have mastered that. 

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RNP47 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I agree totally. There is an especially stupid
> > class of drivers in Florida. I never pull out
> > immediately as a red light turns green because
> of
> > drivers running red lights. Yikes.
>
> That is a good habit to develop anywhere. Florida
> does not have a monopoly of that type of drivers.

I was taught to do that in multiple Defensive Driver classes while I was at AT&T. Light turns green give it a two count before you start to move.

And some folks will follow a semi through the intersection, even though they cant see the light because of the height of the trailer. Truckers run lights too.

Victor Baird

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