Driver awareness (or lack thereof)

[Louis]

http://nyti.ms/1EFSFeV

This is all preliminary, but what a mess.

One moral of the story: Be aware of where you're driving and what's going on around you.

Sometimes you hit a cyclist, sometimes you get creamed by a train. Most drivers aren't inherently evil, just clueless.


http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/02/05/nyregion/05train-web04/05train-web04-articleLarge.jpg

Rick Hope, who was in the car directly behind Ms. Brody’s Mercedes S.U.V., said her car was stopped on the road just before the tracks but in front of the crossing arm. He watched as the red lights began to flash, warning bells rang and the crossing arm came down on the back of her car.

“As soon as I see the gate go down, I back up,” Mr. Hope said outside his Yorktown Heights home on Wednesday evening. “I say, ‘She’s going to back up as soon as she sees what’s going on.'”

But instead, Ms. Brody calmly got out of her car. She walked around the back, pushed up against the guardrail, and found it wedged firmly in place.

Mr. Hope said he began to panic, knowing a train would plow through in seconds. He said he motioned with his hands at Ms. Brody to come toward him. Knowing his headlights were on, possibly blocking her from seeing him, he backed his car up more, thinking she might copy his behavior.
Continue reading the main story

For a split second, he said, she looked at him. He thought she might walk away from the car.

“She looks at me, that’s the disturbing part,” he said. “I was waiting for her to say, ‘What do I do?’ That’s easy — come here!”

Instead she walked back to the driver’s seat and climbed in. There was a pause, as if she were buckling her seat belt.

“The thing’s dinging, red lights are flashing, it’s going off,” Mr. Hope said. “I just remember going, ‘Hurry up.’ I just knew she was going to back up — never in my wildest dreams did I think she’d go forward.”

She drove forward.

“It was just instantaneous,” he said. “She was gone.”

Even as officials revised the number of people killed on Wednesday morning to six from seven, the families of those involved had to deal with an agonizing wait for information because many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition.

The five train passengers who died were all men, according to a county official.

[superflyss]

some drivers are just stupid

[Louis]

some drivers are ...

I don't want to set a record and have two threads locked in one day due to lack of sensitivity to folks who've been killed in accidents, so let's just say that she wasn't stupid, but insufficiently aware of what was going on around her.

As many cyclists have found out in the worst possible way, it happens to drivers all the time. (which was my reason for starting the thread in the first place, and it's connection to our interests)

[rustychisel]

some people are ...


Dunno about you Louis, but I'm pretty sure this qualifies for the 's' word.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

More like ignorant. Many people are clueless about trains, the sheer size and power of them. This particular train car is almost 13 feet high, over 10 feet wide and 85 feet long (son is a train aficionado). My take is she was worried about the damage to her nice SUV, didn't hear or even think about a train coming. What are the odds she was driving "distracted?" Safe driving 101, gates come down, or are starting to come down, stop before the crossing. Always. Tragedy that could have been avoided.

[milkbaby]

Wow... Some people just feel invincible in their car? And apparently inattentive to the consequences. :(

[SlowPokePete]

Incredible, horrible tragedy, happened close by to me.

Have a friend who rides that train home from NYC, says he always sits in the front car, but wasn't on board that day...

SPP

[soulspinner]

My daughter rides that train every week. Is it you cant hear a train if you are directly in front of it? Seems like this happens all too often.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Is it you cant here a train if you are directly in front of it? Seems like this happens all too often.

I believe, per regulations, train engineers sound their very loud air horns before all crossings. Saying they're loud is an understatement. I hear them all the time on my commute on 684. Also, you can hear and "feel" an approaching train through the rails, especially if near them. Any way you slice it, preventable, a Mother is gone, as are 5 others who were just trying to get home from work. A tragedy.

[JAllen]

Wow... Some people just feel invincible in their car? And apparently inattentive to the consequences. :(

I would say that for some it might be ^ this ^ mixture. Although I think in some circumstances it might also be that people don't understand the physics of whats going to happen. The sheer force is greatly underestimated. I believe that it could in part be the false safety and comfort that cars so easily lend. This was tragic and so easily avoided.

[oldpotatoe]

I would say that for some it might be ^ this ^ mixture. Although I think in some circumstances it might also be that people don't understand the physics of whats going to happen. The sheer force is greatly underestimated. I believe that it could in part be the false safety and comfort that cars so easily lend. This was tragic and so easily avoided.

Huge tragedy.A Mom, nobody will ever know what she was thinking as this happened. Tragic all around.

[rugbysecondrow]

People use commuter trains and subways to commit suicide every year. It wouldn't surprise me to know that was the case here.

[veloduffer]

This particular road is a shortcut between two major highways, and often gets backed up. From what I have heard and read, she got caught between the gate and track, which is very wide compared to most crossings, and actually wasn't on the track.

I can only assume she decided to go forward because it was clear on the other side. However, she couldn't accelerate as she needed to negotiate going around the gate ahead.

The trains going through were probably 50-60 mph.

Years ago, my sister's ex-boyfriend tried to go around the gates. There was a train stopped and loading at the station. He didn't realize that express trains come through on the other track. Sad - nice guy and nice family - way too young.

[Seramount]

apparently, based on this incident and what I see on my daily commute, operating a motor vehicle sensibly is the single most difficult task humans face.

[unterhausen]

the problem is that it's so easy to do it right that people treat it as an afterthought and become really complacent. If it's the fifth thing on the list of your currrent priorities, it all of a sudden becomes really hard to do it well.

I imagine this poor woman got confused about her best course of action

[sitzmark]

This particular road is a shortcut between two major highways, and often gets backed up. From what I have heard and read, she got caught between the gate and track, which is very wide compared to most crossings, and actually wasn't on the track.



That appears to be the the sad story. Heavy traffic was bypassing an accident on the major route. Another issue of attention to detail. Clearly you're never supposed to stop on tracks ... people do it all the time. Not supposed to block intersections either ... people do it all the time.

Tunnel vision. Probably distraught about being on tracks, crossing arm down on her expensive automobile, wanted to do least damage to vehicle, wanted to get it off tracks ... lost awareness for the bigger picture unfolding and how quickly.

In most people's daily lives "life" happens slowly, is pre-programmed/controlled, and very mind numbing. The need for life-or-death presence of mind rarely (if ever) knowingly comes into play.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

That appears to be the the sad story. Heavy traffic was bypassing an accident on the major route. Another issue of attention to detail. Clearly you're never supposed to stop on tracks ... people do it all the time. Not supposed to block intersections either ... people do it all the time.

Tunnel vision. Probably distraught about being on tracks, crossing arm down on her expensive automobile, wanted to do least damage to vehicle, wanted to get it off tracks ... lost awareness for the bigger picture unfolding and how quickly.

In most people's daily lives "life" happens slowly, is pre-programmed/controlled, and very mind numbing. The need for life-or-death presence of mind rarely (if ever) knowingly comes into play.

This, I'm betting is spot on accurate. No matter how damn expensive, it's a thing, that can be replaced, not her life, or the others.

[veloduffer]

Makes a case for pushing forward with driver-less cars. Just got a new car with the self-parallel parking feature, which I haven't tried yet. Sounds scary but probably more accurate than I can do it.

[JAllen]

Huge tragedy.A Mom, nobody will ever know what she was thinking as this happened. Tragic all around.

That's exactly it. It's so easy to analyze from a distance, and that's how we try to understand how these things happen, but I'm not sure any of us can positively say what we would do in that moment. Rational thinking and logic can go out the window quickly when death is staring you in the face. Truly, how often in one's lifetime have people faced a life or death situation? On average, I would say, not too often (at least not that we're aware of). I pray that we don't have to face it.

[unterhausen]

from what I read, she stopped inside the gates, but not on the tracks. So from her perspective, going forward was clear, but backing up meant avoiding the gates/stopped traffic.

[fiamme red]

Pedestrians and cyclists can be pretty stupid too: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/feb/02/near-misses-uk-level-crossings-video.

[Seramount]

Just got a new car with the self-parallel parking feature, which I haven't tried yet. Sounds scary but probably more accurate than I can do it.

self-parking cars seem like just another way to dumb down the already poor skill set of drivers.

[Likes2ridefar]

It's clear our infrastructure is failing us.

It's embarrassing how bad the mass transportation is in this country.

[unterhausen]

self-parking cars seem like just another way to dumb down the already poor skill set of drivers.

we have a self-parking car with 107k miles on it. Still havent' used the self-parking feature

[pdmtong]

That's exactly it. It's so easy to analyze from a distance, and that's how we try to understand how these things happen, but I'm not sure any of us can positively say what we would do in that moment. Rational thinking and logic can go out the window quickly when death is staring you in the face. Truly, how often in one's lifetime have people faced a life or death situation? On average, I would say, not too often (at least not that we're aware of). I pray that we don't have to face it.

I haven't counted the elapsed time from when the arm comes down to the train crosses at our local commuter crossing, but its probably 15 seconds? not minutes. Thats a lot of time when you are rational. not much time if you are paniced. I was once across the tracks, and I guy behind me tried to sneak across, but only got part way. uh-oh the flashers sound and the arm comes down and he guns it in a panic to get off the tracks and rear ends me. def not clear thinking.

We read about life/death situations all the time in the news. Sometimes I wonder - what would I do if faced with something that required a split decision? It comes up more and more as I am driving with my daughter who is about to go for her permit. We role play scenarios all the time....its less paranoia and more the want to impress on her that anything can happen at anytime.

This car/train crash is tragic. sympathies to all who lost loved ones.

[eippo1]

I live near a train crossing with gates, but no horns as is the case with many residential crossings. Depending on the buildings, trees and other dynamics, in a lot of cases you can't hear the train until it is right on top of you. I almost made the mistake when trying to make it around to my stopped inbound train and did not knows that the express was late and coming the other way. There was a gate guard in that case that yelled at me for my attention or else I would have went right in front of it. No headphones, no hat, and otherwise fairly aware.

[MattTuck]

2006 Paris Roubaix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RAHz8M_uO1E#t=188)

Cyclists can do stupid stuff too when it comes to railroad crossings.

[JAllen]

2006 Paris Roubaix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RAHz8M_uO1E#t=188)

Cyclists can do stupid stuff too when it comes to railroad crossings.
I'm in my work truck facing some tracks taking a 15 minute break and watching this. As soon as the train goes by in the video 2 trains passing in front of me going in opposite directions. Crazy coincidence.

[johnmdesigner]

http://mashable.com/2015/02/05/snow-train/