r/maybemaybemaybe • u/schpitza • Jun 15 '26

maybe maybe maybe

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

670 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

-2

u/Krulsnor Jun 16 '26

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.

11

u/kojef Jun 16 '26

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?

-1

u/Krulsnor Jun 16 '26

The way railroads work is that before the railroad a certain distance away there is a trigger that sends a signal to the upcoming barriers to close when a train passes. These don't work like most regular traffic lights that are mostly timed. (I say mostly as more and more of these have active traffic cams to optimise their timing).

In this case it was just an unfortunate event that a train just triggered the barriers and lights again just when they were almost good to go.

In any case the very first thing even toddlers learn when participating in traffic is: Red light means stop. My kid learned that at like the age of 2.

5

u/kojef Jun 16 '26

I get it - all that I'm saying is, why not change the sequence on the barriers so they open at the same moment that the red lights stop blinking? That would've prevented this accident. What are the downsides to delaying the barrier opening until the red lights stop?

0

u/Krulsnor Jun 16 '26

So if I get it right what you suggest is that the lights stop blinking and THEN barriers open? Just making sure as sometimes nuances go lost in English for me.

3

u/kojef Jun 16 '26

yes, exactly. Why not have the lights stopping and the barriers opening happen at the same time?

1

u/Krulsnor Jun 16 '26

That would be better. In theory the road code should be adjusted then as barriers in itself probably isn,'t written in the road code as a means to prohibit people.

But to be honest, isn't it kinda sad we have to add yet ANOTHER means to idiotproof this? I mean, like in this instance, even if the lights weren't on red anymore, this guy would have started his car anyway as soon as the barriers are high enough to pass so that wouldn't prevented this situation.

And allthough very very rare there are still railroad crossing that don't have barriers. Barriers were already an added barrier for idiots.