Large Scale Central

Why engineers at fault ?

Prototypes
#21

Dan Padova said:

Ed Halo said:

The strategy of libel lawyers(all honorable men) is to paint the engineer as running a train as a mounted knight charging across a battlefield, hence the phrase, “charging down the track.” AN engineer could be charged with manslaughter and the railroad held libel if a jury ruled that the engineer did not do all possible to avoid hitting the person on the tracks. With the recording devices in modern locomotives, an application of “emergency” had better be recorded for the aftermath of any fatal accident. The decision of indicting or not indicting is with the local/county DA. and is obviously a decision that can be politically based.

Because of the financial robustness (massive assets/property) the railroads are, to some degree, held libel in nearly all accidents, but rarely criminal libel. Libel claims are formulated on percentage of fault, and judged by one , six, or eight jurors. None will have any RR experience.

Great Case. A carwith family inside, is sitting at a road crossing with its gates down and lights flashing while a Santa Fe train passes at a high rate of speed. A large truck rear-ends the car with sufficient force to push it into the moving train. Fatalities ensue.

Guess who was held libel???

Ed

Other than applying the brakes, a risky decision in most cases I’m sure, what more can an engineer do? To me, that one action encompasses “all an engineer can do”.

Do you remember that video from the “Big Boy” transfer? An Intermodal freight approaching at yard speed, one yahoo in a hoodie “not hearing” the incessant horn of the lead engine. Good thing someone grabbed that imbecile out of harms way.

All this going on in a yard where everyone with just a slight leftover of brains will look out for trains.

Yep, the gene pool needs some extra cleaning, I just feel sorry for the train crews who have the hassle and the nightmares from those actions.

#22

Forrest Scott Wood said:

…Semi-trailers too don’t exactly stop in the same distance as a Smart Car.

In the daily driving of their cars, vans, and utility vehicles, they generally don’t have to plan their brake application an hour ahead of time, and the thought simply doesn’t occur that other vehicles are different, very different.

Yea, too many car drivers drive by looking right over their hoods (bonnets). They don’t see that the lane is closed a block ahead, nor do they see that truck (lorrie) trying to make a turn. Then they brake hard when these things “surprise” them. So no, they have no concept about inertia and how it effects larger and heavier vehicles. One guy told me “big trucks have big brakes”, like that means anything. I guess that same mis-thinking could be applied to trains. After all, each car has its own brakes, so why cant they stop in less then a mile?

And the concept of trespassing on railroad (private) property is also foreign to those mush brains. I guess they never considered that the property is owned by anyone.

#23

People get hit and killed by trains here in the San Diego area on a regular basis, seems like at least once every couple weeks or so. Sometimes it’s suicide, sometimes it’s someone drunk or stone, and sometimes it’s just somebody being stupid. I’ve never heard of an engineer being charged in any way over any of these deaths.

It’s always an emotionally draining experience for the train crews, who can do nothing but hit the brakes, blow the horn and call the authorities to come pick up the pieces. And especially rough when the victim is a kid.

A couple cases I’ve read about in the news over the years stand out as extremely tragic…

In one instance, a woman was trying to run across the tracks to get to the boarding side of the station, tripped and was knocked unconscious when her head hit the rail. A married couple waiting for the train tried to drag her off the tracks but the train was too close. The unconscious woman was run over, and the woman pulling her was killed too, when her head was struck by the passing train.

The other case was a toddler who had wandered from a home near the tracks. He was too young to understand or try to run, and just stood there as the train plowed into him.

#24

Dan Padova said:

Other than applying the brakes, a risky decision in most cases I’m sure, what more can an engineer do? To me, that one action encompasses “all an engineer can do”.

Actually you don’t hit the brakes until after you hear the thump! I hate to say it but a lot of times you don’t know what is going to happen when you dump the train, and the person could move at the last minute. If you’re going fast enough, the few second until you hear the thump isn’t going to make the much of a difference!

#25

A very recent incident near here made me feel really sorry for the Driver . A woman intent on ending it all threw herself AND her child in front of an HST going through a station . (HST-High Speed Train)

The poor bloody driver , who apparently was not going fast anyway (he got back to the scene very quickly ) wandered around the platform saying "Why did she do that ? I couldn’t stop , I hit the brakes " and so on , The passengers tried very hard to help him and assure him it wasn’t his fault , but the damage was done and he is now under intensive care (or suicide watch if you prefer) .

It’s a great shame that people intent on ending it all have to be so selfish , though their minds must be in a bit of a state to say the least . I know that from personal experience .

On the same subject , where the trains run along the street in the USA , I take it the trains , like trams , have priority ? I understand that their speed is limited , but having seen cockpit film of a car turning across in front of a short train , they would need to be at crawling pace to stop . My reason for asking is I hear the words “right of way” used for trackage there . Is it literally a right of way over all the trackage ?

Mike