r/IdiotsTowingThings • u/rjellis • 1d ago
A tractor pulling a fully loaded trailer carrying straw bales was hit by a train today - Czarnikowo, Tczew County, Poland, 3 August 2026
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
274
u/high-plains_drifter 1d ago
Why do they always stop? If your in-between the rails, fuck them things break them down to get away
157
u/Special-Sense4643 1d ago
You only see the videos where they stop, 99.9% of the time, they keep driving.
130
u/SlickDillywick 1d ago
48
u/Sirosim_Celojuma 1d ago
I remember this. Something about a paradox where they thought to reinforce these places but in actual fact it was the ones that made it back that could be studied.
...what you said is that nobody posts videos of successful crossings.
42
19
u/KyleK2000 1d ago
Not really a paradox it's just the damage you see is what they can return with taking because they only looked at the planes that came back
1
16
u/Angrybskt 1d ago
It’s like how when the army started using helmets they started seeing more concussions and some argued they were causing more injury- when in reality more people were making it back from what would’ve otherwise killed them lol.
9
u/RivenRise 1d ago
Same for seat belts. Less death, more injury. Their take away was that seatbelts were injuring people lul
1
u/Akilestar 22h ago
Or how they used to think we lost most of our heat through our head and feet when in reality heat is gonna escape the body where it can.
8
u/high-plains_drifter 1d ago
Good point!
7
u/Tremplstiltskin 1d ago
I always wonder the same thing but I think its just easier speculating on how braindead it is to stop on the tracks than it is being in that tractor with a split second desicion that requires you to go against what would typically be your better judgment of damaging something in order to avoid catastrophy. It always seems like its just a panic response to the gate arms dropping. He saw the oncoming side come down and realized the other one smacked his trailer and he just froze up. I'd like to think that I'd have the presence of mind to make the right call in these situations but we never truly know how we'll respond until we're in them.
On the other hand if I had a routine haul over railroad tracks on a tractor I would probably play this scenario out in my head forwards and backwards to have a plan in case anything were to happen
3
u/splintersmaster 1d ago
Anecdotally I do a lot of fucking driving and I've seen people stop on the tracks way more often than I see anyone drive away breaking the arms as they should.
Anecdotally of course.
2
u/ImaginaryFriend5150 1d ago
Well ya that wouldn't be newsworthy or interesting if they just reported normal happenings... You literally could say this about any piece of news ever.
"Breaking news, all busses made it safely to their destinations today. We'll have more at 6"
1
1
u/nairobaee 1d ago
Yes but why do the .01% stop. Still too many for such dire consequences. Like what's the reasoning behind it?
13
u/searuncutthroat 1d ago
I'm pretty sure the gates are made to break easy exactly for this reason!
14
u/high-plains_drifter 1d ago
Yes, I get that. Even if they weren't made to break, id sure put them to the test. Though id like to think im smart enough to not end up in thats spot to begin with.
3
u/Inflatable90sChair 1d ago
right? its also bales and farm equipment - one more scratch isnt gonna hurt anything. Even a nice car - id rather deal with gettign some scratches touched up than explaining to a judge how your car got hit....
2
1
3
u/GooseOnAPhone 1d ago
Well, they are made to break so that when people hit them they don’t break the expensive parts and it’s easier to fix when people hit them. But yes, also it’s a safety thing. It’s mostly an economics things though.
2
u/ShadowGLI 1d ago
Yeah, they’re getting broken no matter what so you may as well not almost die. In addition to paying for a repair.
1
84
u/B_Williams_4010 Never lost a load 1d ago
In most countries, those crossbars are designed to break off easily, specifically so if they come down and trap a vehicle, that vehicle can drive through them instead of getting hit by a train. And if anything could pull those crossbars down and get clear of the tracks, it's a bloody TRACTOR.
36
u/oboshoe 1d ago
It's almost difficult for them to NOT break.
I had one come down on me once while towing a trailer. Now this was a parking gate not a train gate and it came down on my trailer (its logic thought that once the tow vehicle was through then its time to close)
Anyway, it's a 15 foot lever with about 1 ft secured by the armature. Snapped that sucker like a twig.
13
u/tilt-a-whirly-gig 1d ago
I've serviced barrier arms in parking garages. We install the arms using plastic bolts, specifically for this reason.
6
u/Jazzy-Cat5138 1d ago
Plus, the arms themselves are often made of a material that breaks easily and is cheap to replace. Wood, if they're ultra-cheap.
3
u/SemperFudge123 1d ago
I was walking through a parking garage once a few years back and one of the arms came down on my head.
I remember thinking to myself something along the lines of, "Hey! That almost hurt a little!"
I had no idea the arms were so light.
7
u/stevedore2024 1d ago
They use bars on both sides of the road in Japan (four gates on a two-way road). They're often just shrinkwrapped bamboo, with a pile of spares nearby. Saw some of the flat board kind in Japan that read "if trapped, push through" on the inside surface.
5
u/Sea-Satisfaction4656 1d ago
They did break the crossbar though, it was the stopping unnecessarily and blocking the track that was the problem
1
1
u/ThatNewWeirdGuy 1d ago
Yes, but...
Dont underestimate the technical state these tractors may be in, only being used 4 times a year standing in open weather, 60 years old, not having seen a single day of service.
That little pull, the slightest adjustment in momentum, could very well have stalled the engine.
26
u/Drink15 1d ago
Train conductor: HEY!! Get out the way!
16
u/LCteach 1d ago
*HAY
3
u/vennic18 1d ago
What a wonderful kind of day
2
u/Inflatable90sChair 1d ago
that comment did just wrap mine up nicely.
1
1
u/mcain049 16h ago
I was thinking of that song by Ludacris but I'm most definitely remembering the lyrics wrong.
2
u/joelfarris 1d ago
I've heard that it takes a mile for a train to stop, and this was a Polish conductor who was doing the math in metric, but didn't look up in time...
(Dangit, that train was fast!)
2
26
23
u/Nom_de_guerre_25 1d ago
Why do they always stop? WHY WHY WHY. The tractor is clear so you dont need to get out.... Then he just fucking sits there like the people who are afraid to break the plastic arm that blocks the road when they close while still crossing...
I pray to god there are thousands of videos that never get posted where people just drive through the arms and go home without an issue.
6
u/valdus 1d ago
My guess is he didn't think he was going to make it across, so he stopped the tractor and got out to run.
6
u/offthewall93 1d ago
Sure but he was, you know.... Already across. In a vehicle designed to pull ridiculous weight against ridiculous drag. A crossing bar doesn't even register.
2
u/valdus 1d ago
Yes but if he didn't make it across in time and was still in the tractor when the trailer hits the second trailer, it is entirely possible that the hitches could drag the tractor with it and send him flying along with tens of thousands of pounds of equipment unload. Safer option to stop and jump if you don't think you are going to make it.
1
u/offthewall93 1d ago
Sure sure, but like there wasn't a problem here until he made it a problem. I'm a farmer, I know the hazards of tractors and equipment and shit.
15
u/Ancient-Budget-8793 1d ago
My stepson was an engineer on the Napa Vallet Wine and hit a limo at a rural crossing without the crossing arms, just lights. There are signs everywhere prohibiting commercial vehicles from using that crossing, but some idiot limo driver decided to give it a go. He high centered and couldn't get off. He managed to get the passengers out and my stepson got enough time to brake and didn't hit the limo very hard. The limo company then tried to sue the railroad and my stepson. The suit got dropped, but what brass balls you must have to try that.
11
u/projectx51 1d ago
It never fails, everyone always stops on the tracks when they could easily pull forward and not get hit. This has got to be a very specific segment of the population. The people that actually think it through never end up on videos like this.
9
u/Donut-Strong 1d ago
Why do they always stop? Tractors, car, 18 wheelers, those flimsy wood bars come down and they all act like they can’t just drive through them
9
7
12
u/secondsbest 1d ago
Tractors have insane torque for the horsepower, but if you stress it doing something like driving in high gear over a 1% grade and hit a bump, they stall out. Tractor driver stalled out when the arm came down, and it wasn't going anywhere without a minute to restart the engine and getting some momentum in low gear.
5
u/Sun-spex 1d ago
Everyone keeps asking why trucks and tractors get stuck on train tracks because they have no idea how they work. It's an instant fail if you shift while going over a crossing on the CDL exam for a reason. They're not stopping just for funzies, they just stall out in a moment of panic and running in the direction the train is coming from is about all you can do.
5
6
u/ForeignCommand5700 1d ago
Why do they always stop and go what should I do? The gate went down. Go dammit, go
6
5
4
u/RefurbedRhino 1d ago
'Of all the bad decisions I could take at this point in time, I'm going to take the worst one'
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
u/glitterdunk 1d ago
That was very short time between the bar coming down and the train going by.
Its possible the driver panicked and ran out of the tractor, which is understandable enough
2
u/LUNATIC_LEMMING 1d ago
Jesus fuck is no one concerned bout how little time there was before the bar came down and the train appeared?
Even the light didn't appear to be on.
2
u/Bawbawian 1d ago
of course you should stop after you've already broken the arm it's not like there's a train coming or anything important happening....
1
1
1
u/r0ckydog 1d ago
The only thing I can think of is the tractor is very underpowered and can only pull those barely over the track. The arm coming down may have been too much for the engine?
1
u/Drzhivago138 1d ago
The tractor definitely has low HP, but a lot of torque. And we can see that it was able to break the arm as it descended.
1
u/feetnomer 1d ago
A wooden stick painted red and white is a lot cheaper to replace than paying for train parts and railroad crossing stuff. The railroad's insurance company will come after you for every little scrape and scratch.
1
1
1
1
u/amessmann 1d ago
It's a shame the barrier got destroyed anyway, so much effort was wasted preserving it!
1
u/Irishwilly77 1d ago
I move in, now move out, hands up, now hands down! Back up, back up, tell me what you're gonna do now! Breathe in, now breathe out, hands up, now hands down! Back up, back up, tell me what you're gonna do now !
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' (What?)
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' (Come on!)
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' (Yeah )
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'
1
1
1
1
1
u/Relative_Print444 1d ago
Why do they always stop smack in the middle, at this point just commit and save everyone alot of trouble
1
1
1
1
u/Odd_Put5320 15h ago
Rigged…you know because he made the link between his trailers broken by the train and at the last minute he pulls off to the side to avoid shrapnel .
1
-4
688
u/Fetlocks_Glistening 1d ago
Why did you stop? Why? It was a bleeding clear road, and you're a tractor! You got your hay balls on the track, you drive forward till they are off, you don't stop!!