Alternative Facts? (aka combined signal and journalism fail)


MikeOwnby

Active Member
The exact moment of impact. The vid shows before & after also. I'm sure the video was probably added at some point after the article was written, but come on! Edit your story once new info is up, genius. :rolleyes:

train.JPG

URL for the article: http://www.good4utah.com/news/top-s...des-with-fedex-truck-in-woods-cross/643744855
 
Lucky it was the trailer and not the prime mover by only a second or two. And even more lucky it wasn't two FedEx trailers by only a second or two. The arms were clearly in the up position the whole time, so no fault of the truckies. Bit hard to tell if there was a break in the video, 'cause the truck driver got down from the cab very nonchalantly and fire crew were there as well. If the drivers were being directed to cross by traffic controllers, some-one boobed.
 
Interestingly, it was on our TV news this evening. Right at the end it showed the crossing lights going and the arms coming down, so a fault with them probably.
 
Can't find it right now, but there was a local news item about some yutz who was taken out by an Amtrack train while walking on the tracks in the same direction the train was going, while wearing earphones.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
I had an instance of when driving towards a green traffic light, a teenage girl stepped off the curb, with her music? in her ears. Fortunately for her I saw her coming and braked accordingly. I also blew my horn, and she gave me a nice smile and wave whilst blithely carrying on her way. Ain't no cure for dumbass.
 
Wow, the crossing arms or red flashers never did a thing!! Frightening!!!
 
Lucky no one was injured in this accident!

But, I wonder what ever happened to..."Stop, Look and Listen"?

Thanks.

Greg
 
Chet, That video was the one that was shown on our local TV news, showing the lights and arms working after the crash, although it was cut a bit shorter. Just goes to show how much we rely on automatic mechanisms to work all the time.
 
The news station we watched said the track sensors on the approach side were "iced over" and failed to trigger the signals due to the severe weather.
 
If that's severe weather, these types of deadly crashes would happen every day it snows here in Minnesota. Is where this happened a place that gets this type pf weather, regularly? It's obvious the fellow filming the crash saw it coming as he backed away just before the hit! It is so wonderful the semi-tractor cleared the tracks, that is one lucky trucker!!!

To expect that drivers will look both ways while crossing the railroad tracks when the signalling system failed, is expecting a bit much. While as shown, not looking has it's hazards! "Stop, Look, Listen" is a great idea; however, I think we rely on the electronic gods too much in the modern world! Heck, both the truck driver and the engineer may have been on their cell phones, talking to the wives at the time of the accident! Damn you, electronic gods!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In the 13 years I worked as a fireman and engineer for the Penn Central I hit 2 cars. Both went flying, one in a swap, the other in the woods. Two people in the first car were friends I knew and came out of the water with out a scratch. The car was totaled. The second was a police office who went around the gates. The police car went flying in some near by brush. He came out with out a scratch. The car was totaled. I was the fireman in both cases. I think we were doing about 60 mph when we hit these cars. How anyone escaped the two crashes I don't know?

George
 
Two FedEx trucks (one red one green), must be close to their hub in town. It is the red marked truck that got hit, wonder if those packages "absolutely, positively, got there overnight". :)

Edit.
Well, looking at the other photos from the news stories, even the red marked truck says "ground", so my joke isn't so funny. Used to be the red marked trucks were the express overnight and the green ones were ground.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wow! Both frightening and fascinating at the same time! It's awesome that the FedEx driver was completely unhurt. Thanks for linking the video, Chet! As an aside, I love how much my N-scale Trainworx' FedEx trailers look so much like the real thing! (I have 25 purple-red regular FedEx and purple-green ground FedEx trailers purchased for my spine-car unit-train).

NYC_George: Those are two crazy (but, good) stories!
 
That one got ground up. I felt sorry for anyone who had a parcel on that truck, they sure went flying but not with wings.
 



Back
Top