Community Chat

[MaMa50]

I suspect she was distracted listening to loud music and or texting.

[Qwackertoo]

On 2/6/2015 Witchy Woman said:

Sad and tragic.

I grew up in a small town with heavy RR traffic. To get from one side of town to another small town nearby, you had to cross multiple tracks. It was a switching center with a round house and trains went back and forth all day. A few came through very fast, but most were just going back and forth in the switching yard.

As a young driver, I was taught to never, never NEVER go around the gates and absolutely NEVER stop on the tracks. This was a lesson hammered in to all young drivers in the area.

My father was a RR engineer and accidentally hit a car on the track one summer night. In court, everyone, including the driver was proven to have been drunk when the car stopped on the track.

Thankfully, no one was killed, but it was a horrible experience for my father -- one he never forgot. He talked about that night and his terror at hitting those people until he died.

To this day, I will never stop on the tracks. EVER! If you don't have a clear path forward, stay put. If the guy behind you honks, let him go around!

Yes. The engineers suffer after hitting cars and people dying even though it was unavoidable on their part.

I remember when I worked @ UPRR in the law dept. where many of the cases were settled . . . and one family lost THREE children . . . they were going to school, the oldest driving . . . and went around those crossing gates/guards . . . so sad.

Even at crossing where there are not crossing gates . . . it is very difficult to determine just how fast a train is going at that angle from the drivers viewpoint.

[DJs mom]

On 2/6/2015 MaMa50 said:

I suspect she was distracted listening to loud music and or texting.

I don't think its fair to make assumptions she was listening to loud music and/or texting. Unfortunately, we'll never know what happened and why.

[MaMa50]

On 2/6/2015 DJs mom said:

On 2/6/2015 MaMa50 said:

I suspect she was distracted listening to loud music and or texting.

I don't think its fair to make assumptions she was listening to loud music and/or texting. Unfortunately, we'll never know what happened and why.

I don't think it's fair that you think you can tell me I'm not entitled to suspicions. Certainly the families of all the victims would like to know and they have every right.

[DJs mom]

On 2/6/2015 MaMa50 said:

On 2/6/2015 DJs mom said:

On 2/6/2015 MaMa50 said:

I suspect she was distracted listening to loud music and or texting.

I don't think its fair to make assumptions she was listening to loud music and/or texting. Unfortunately, we'll never know what happened and why.

I don't think it's fair that you think you can tell me I'm not entitled to suspicions. Certainly the families of all the victims would like to know and they have every right.

I'm sure the victims' families would like to know what happened, but nothing short of facts will accomplish this. How can anyone say she was listening to loud music and/or texting unless they were in the car with her?

[Qwackertoo]

I'm sure an investigation will determine the facts . . . both as to the volume of the radio or CD player OR with cell phone records the exact time of her last incoming & outgoing texts and incoming/outgoing phone calls.

Very sad and tragic deaths.

[CatsyCline]

Eyewitness accounts: The RR gate came down when the driver she was trying to cross the tracks. She got out of her SUV to check the damage to her car. Then got back in and drove forward onto the tracks instead of reversing the SUV which would have caused her to hit the gate again adding more damage to her SUV. The car behind her backed up to give her space and motioned for her to reverse as well. Which she ignored.

[terrier3]

On 2/6/2015 ashleigh dupray said:

Eyewitness accounts: The RR gate came down when the driver she was trying to cross the tracks. She got out of her SUV to check the damage to her car. Then got back in and drove forward onto the tracks instead of reversing the SUV which would have caused her to hit the gate again adding more damage to her SUV. The car behind her backed up to give her space and motioned for her to reverse as well. Which she ignored.

The gates are made of flimsy material...it would have been easy to back up.

I bet she didn't know this though!

[HollyDays]

If she drove forward, was there another gate blocking her?

[CatsyCline]

On 2/6/2015 terrier3 said:

On 2/6/2015 ashleigh dupray said:

Eyewitness accounts: The RR gate came down when the driver she was trying to cross the tracks. She got out of her SUV to check the damage to her car. Then got back in and drove forward onto the tracks instead of reversing the SUV which would have caused her to hit the gate again adding more damage to her SUV. The car behind her backed up to give her space and motioned for her to reverse as well. Which she ignored.

The gates are made of flimsy material...it would have been easy to back up.

I bet she didn't know this though!

she got out of her SUV - it was a Benz - to check the damage.

it was probably a hefty hunk of wood or metal.

oh no doubt you know exactly what the gates are fabricated of, how much they weigh, where they have been manufactured yadda yadda