What's The Hurry?
I recently observed 4 vehicles, 3 motorists and 1 motorcyclist, do the unthinkable. While stopped at a railroad crossing,these drivers decided to take the chance to beat the train across the intersection. Why, I asked myself, would anyone do such a thing?
The
misjudging of a train's speed is the primary reason for a train vs motorist/motorcyclist death. A train that appears to be stopped
could easily be traveling at 30-70 mph. That gives the operator of a motor vehicle the false sense that he can get across the tracks
before the train does. If the operator is lucky, he'll make it. If not, the consequences are devastating.
So, why do these people take such a big chance? In our hurry-up and get- there world, we tend to throw caution to the wind. No one wants to wait for a 90 car train to go by, it takes too long. Actually, the average time it takes a train to clear a crossing is 2-5 minutes. Is that really worth risking your life over?
Why take the chance? Nobody wins when a train and a motor vehicle cross paths. Any train
engineer will tell you their biggest
fear is seeing a vehicle either sitting on the tracks, trying to go around the crossing gates,
or
just totally disregarding the warning signals.
There's one other thing to consider. Stopping on the tracks, as well
