Car vs. Train = No Contest.
At a rate that comes close to one a day, people keep getting killed and injured—mostly killed—when trains hit cars and trucks at grade crossings around the country. And in each community where it happens, residents get upset and demand that “something be done” about it.
OK . . . what?
Almost always the cause is carelessness or just plain stupidity. The media invariably reports these events as “accidents”, but they’re not … not when some bozo ignores the flashing lights and the clanging bells, drives around the lowered barricade, and gets creamed by a train before he can make it to the other side of the tracks.
It happened again a couple of days ago in Grass Lakes, Michigan. A guy named Eric Foote, 57, was killed by an Amtrak train when—let me quote the local news account—he “disregarded the warning signal, crossed the tracks and was struck by the westbound train”. We know that all the safety equipment—the gates, the lights, the bells—we’re working because there were no less than four witnesses.
In a train-car collision, the train wins . . . every time. An Amtrak engineer once told me that an equivalent to a train hitting a car would be running over a mailbox with your family car. Here’s some visual proof of that.
Foote’s car was smashed, knocked a hundred feet from the point of impact, and he was killed. The damage to the Amtrak locomotive was barely noticeable.
There are hundreds of thousands of grade crossing all over this country. And there are ways to minimize or even eliminate these occurrences: double barricades (that is, arms are lowered on both sides of the road and on both sides of the intersection) or we can construct underpasses or overpasses at these sites. The costs vary from expensive to really expensive.
I hate to put it in these terms, but I guess it pretty much boils down to how many tax dollars we’re prepared to spend in order to prevent careless or stupid people from killing themselves.
This is indeed a tragic event. Please show some compassion towards the friends/family and loved ones of the deceased. This person’s life was cut short and, unfortunately, the train engineer had no choice in the matter of being involved in the accident. If you look into it, many train engineers have to experience events like this. I would think it be explained to them that it is likely to occur if one chooses to be a train engineer. Also, please get your facts straight. He was not 57 years old.
Of course, this was a tragic event. But it was entirely preventable. I don’t know the extent to which the engineer was affected by the event, but through carelessness or poor judgement or foolishness–whatever you want to call it–this guy had a negative impact on the life of the man operating that locomotive. And FYI, initial news reports stated the man was 57.
Of course it’s tragic. It’s all the more tragic, exactly because it was a dumb move by the victim which was avoidable. I understand the family’s grief, loosing a loved one always hurt, whether it was by accident, disease or even old age. I even understand when the family turns against the railway, as if they should have been able to avoid the event. I understand, but I don’t agree. The victim’s dead because of a mistake made by that victim, nothing else. Hiding this fact will not honour the victim’s memory, and neither will it stop others from making that same mistake again and again. While some measures can be taken by the railway companies (tunnels and bridges that replace the crossing, waiting long enough to close the gates to avoid people getting impatient…), only sustained education of the public will really help to bring down the number of foolish people and the accidents they get themselves into.
As a retired engineer in Indiana told me over 30 years ago when I was in college.
“No train ever went out of it’s way to hit a car.”
Car’s fault. Every single time. When it happens I can be sad, but not sorry.
What is never reported is what is the cost to Amtrak, as it self-insures up to, I believe, $200 Million? With no budget for repairs, Beach Grove and Delaware have lines of damaged equipment waiting to go back into revenue service. Also, who pays for the business interruption on that route, the busing and re-accomodation of passengers?
Although we can never stop the stupid and suicidal people, we can go after the truckers. Require full payment for all deaths, injuries, and property damage; substantially fine the trucking firm; place the driver on probation with a higher insurance cost designation. More than one such accident, the trucker loses his license; the firm cannot employ such drivers. More than one accident with the truck firm, fines are further increased, including their cost for insurance, or, privilege to be in business.
One thing you never see reported in any main stream media is the trauma this causes the crew of the train. I cannot fathom what they must endure knowing they could not prevent the results of the collision.
As for rebuilding the crossings to stop the stupid? I wouldn’t. Call me Scrooge, but it does reduce the surplus population. OK, my wife is saying “No Bruce, that’s too strong”. Well, maybe it is. But Operation Lifesaver” has been attempting to educate these fools for years. Is the number of grade crossing accidents the result of a shorter attention span, so impatient they can’t wait or simply a death wish. I have had horns beeping at me to move when I wait near a grade crossing for a light to change on the other side of the crossing on a line that sees 1 or 2 trains a week. I, of course, ignored the horn. The horn blower was already surplus in my mind.
I hate to say this–my wife would agree with yours–but it’s very hard to have sympathy for the people who try (and fail) to beat the train. And you are absolutely correct about the impact on the engineers. Some handle it reasonably well. Others–not many-but some–are literally unable to get back up into the cab. The idiot not only got himself killed, he caused the engineer to lose his job.
The problem is, accidents are costly. Even without the human cost (someone lost their parent/partner/child), an accident costs many thousands of dollars related to the delay, the replacement of the crew, damage to track and train, etc. If you can avoid it at a reasonable cost and with little effort, everybody wins. Even just to avoid delay is worth it, I reckon, a more punctual train is a more attractive train, and easier to organize.
There is also the cost to the locomotive engineer. Some–probably most–handle it without a lot of problems. But for some, it’s a traumatic experience and they have a hard time dealing with it. A few are unable to continue in their chosen profession.