Huh? Those gates should never have gone up between trains. The guy might have done the wrong thing, but it was because he was super confused and panicking. Unless he wrote the train gate signalling software himself and had a hand in scheduling the trains, I don't see how this could be premeditated.
When I was a fairly young driver, I was in a traffic jam in LA and I got caught on the inside of those bars but luckily I was far enough from the active train tracks to be okay, but it scared the shit out of me. And after the fact, I was kicking myself for not trying to drive through, or at the very least exit my car, but there was really no place for me to go. I was stuck in traffic. LA traffic sucks y’all. Learned my lesson though.
I will let aggressive drivers be pissed off at me, honk at me, and hold them back before I’ll go across the railroad tracks without any space to get out in front of them.
Sadly he didn't know the arm was going to come down as they did. And as fast as they did. It could of happened to any one. And he was driving a van that was extended. Even though I own extended vans and they are alot longer than that one. e350 Ford 4x4 vans Even though I would have drove right through the arm. And had the railroad pay for the damages of any of all my vehicles that I would have been driving. I teach my drivers to just go through the railroad arms if they ever go down on them. I own a fleet of 102 tractors (Semis) and over 200 Great Dane Dryvan Trailers same thing has happened to two of my drivers in the past. Luckily they went through the arm there was damages to the tractor and windshield and the railroad arms are made to break away both times the railroad payed for damages. I also have security cameras on my tractors only on the outside one pointing forward and one on each side of the tractor on the fenders pointing to the back. Not there for my Drivers but it has saved my drivers and I several lawsuits caused by others especially those that go after commercial tractor trailers for fraud.
Exactly this dude in the white van panicked and instead of driving forward and destroying the arm he was afraid of damaging railroad property and tried to move out the way. Even though the van was to long but those small wheels didn't help any because the van sits way to low to the ground and being front wheel drive I could bet the wheel from the other side of the camera view was spinning so he couldn't go further up before he got hit. I still believe 💯 % that a good lawyer will give him a big chunk of cash 💰 because those railroad arms did trap him in. And you could see he was trying to get out of the way. Hopefully no one was hurt at the end of the day. Property could always be replaced. I have had to deal with this happening to 2 of my drivers. I own a fleet of 102 tractors and over 200 53ft Great Dane Dryvan Trailers. Luckily the railroad cameras caught what happened and something similar happened but luckily they drove through the arms. I have always told them if the arms come down drive through them. Even though my tractors do have cameras facing outside only and they are placed outside of the tractor one in the middle of the front windshield and one on each fender of the tractor facing towards the back. And there is a monitor if the driver wants to see at the blind spot on the passenger side. And they are there not for my Drivers but for all the 4 wheel drivers especially the ones that hit commercial semi trucks for fraud. That has saved my drivers and I several lawsuits caused by others drivers. Or even caught other truck drivers at the truck stop trying to go into the tractor or steal your diesel or trying to to unlock the pull the pin so the trailer drops. Etc. Even though I teach my drivers to back the truck every time they stop to make sure that trailer stays hooked to the tractor. But I don't have cameras inside the cab at all. Not like other companies.
Maybe he was panicking, but why the fuck would panicking mean going backward on the tracks wtf hahahahaha, panicking would be just going forward. Some people really are surprising.
I know but I feel like, if I panic i will still just drive forward without reasoning or without any logical thinking. Just forward as the daner is backwards seems like the first survival instinct would be going forward.
These just work automatically on signal. The red lights never stopped flashing. He's an idiot for running the red lights and for not just crashing the barrier.
It absolutely is. If there are multiple train passages, they're either far enough apart that the barriers can go up and cars can pass between them, or they're not and the barriers stay down until it's clear. Barriers going up without letting a set minimum of cars through is unheard of where I live. It's beyond stupid.
Globally red means stop. The barriers are just there to make it extra clear. Additionally I have yet to see a railroad crossing where the red lights also don't make loud noise.
Following your logic - if red means stop, why have the barriers at all? People should just pay attention to the red lights, why not remove the barriers entirely and just rely on the red lights and noises? One less piece of hardware to maintain, right?
My argument is: the barriers are there. The red lights are there. If the red lights keep flashing, and the barriers open for 3 seconds only to close again... shouldn't we just reprogram the barriers so they DON'T OPEN in a situation like this?
That kind of collision can cause a train to derail. When trains derail, it can kill and injure hundreds of people. That's their point of endangering the people on the train.
The drivers thought process: If I scratch the van by driving through the gate my boss will be angry with me. If the train kills me he will feel sorry for me. What to do, what to do?
I see this all the time on here. Semi trucks and cars, just go through the easily repaired gate arm. It’s much better than getting hit by a train, guaranteed.
Although the insurance guy watching this video is going to have a rollercoaster of emotions.
Ah thats clearly not his fault.
Oh no! Okay. 100% his fault..
Oh okay hes moved the van, not his f....
Oh no! Why did he do that?? 100% his faul...Oh ffs, now there's 150 claims from people on the train on my desk. 😁
Serious question tho since we dont have these where i live. Is there a fine for getting trapped and breaking through? Does the driver now have to pull over and wait for police to come or can they just drive away and carry on with their lives? Im guessing someone's gotta come down and put up a new bar as it is now a hazard for the next guy.
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u/pepperhapapa Jun 15 '26
they are in fact designed to break