Do Trains ever "run into" Road Traffic at Grade Crossings?

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In two seperate events this week I have seen headlines written thus. To my mind this is wrong, as it implies that the train was in the wrong. When train meets rubber wheeled vehicle it is always the vehicle that was in the wrong place, thus the headline should be "was hit while interfering with rail traffic".

Does anyone have an argument that makes me wrong?

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Type: Question • Score: 11 • Views: 4,997 • Replies: 42

@hawkeye10,

Doubtless done to save words, esp in title

2 Replies

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Doubtless done to save words, esp in title

Given the wide idiocy we now find in "journalism" I am not so sure.

0 Replies

@dalehileman,

Dale, you are correct.

2 Replies

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

Dale, you are correct.

In the past the headline would have been "three die in grade crossing incident"...the whole exercise in misatributting blame is not justified by trying to save words, so Dale is wrong.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

When train meets rubber wheeled vehicle it is always the vehicle that was in the wrong place

Wrong place, perhaps. Fault, not always that clearly determined.

Apparently you want to correct some National Transportation Safety Board reports about which driver is at fault in train/vehicle accidents.

2 Replies

@ehBeth,

It is never the trains fault, so insinuating that the train is at fault is always wrong. That is my point. I am not sure why the headlines now get this wrong, it may well be ignorance. It may be watching too many summer action movies.

3 Replies

@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

It is never the trains fault,

that is not correct

2 Replies

@hawkeye10,

Quote:

"three die in grade crossing incident"

Best one yet Hawk

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

hawkeye10 wrote:

It is never the trains fault,

that is not correct

Explaination please.....trains don't have the ability to stop when something is in the way, so it can never be the trains fault. The one in the way is the one in wrong, the only question is why though in 99%+ of cases it is rubber wheeled vehicle driver error.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

read some of these

ehBeth wrote:

National Transportation Safety Board reports

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/reports_rail.html

there are plenty of train operator error cases out there

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@hawkeye10,

Quote:

trains don't have the ability to stop when something is in the way, so it can never be the trains fault.

Largely true Hawk but sometimes the fireman misses a red signal or worse yet sometimes a faulty signal isn't reported til too late

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

If the train makes contact with another train because of passing a signal then it is the train operators fault, but if a train passes a signal and makes contact with a rubber wheeled vehicle it is not the train operators fault unless the signal was red due to a known problem at the grade crossing.

Good point though, my "it is never the trains fault" is wrong, because it is possible to envision how it could be.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

Quote:

In two seperate[sic] events this week I have seen headlines written thus. To my mind this is wrong, as it implies that the train was in the wrong.

Do Trains ever "run into" Road Traffic at Grade Crossings?

There is no implication "that the train was in the wrong". That's as silly an assumption as it would be if I were to take you literally that a train could be in the wrong.

Quote:

thus the headline should be "was hit while interfering with rail traffic".

Now that would be misleading. Stick to restauranteuring, Hawk.

1 Reply

@JTT,

So if the headline read "Hawkeye ran into JTT on the sidewalk" you want me to believe that most people would not assume that I did you wrong??

I don't buy it.

2 Replies

@hawkeye10,

"So if the headline read "Hawkeye ran into JTT on the sidewalk" you want me to believe that most people would not assume that I did you wrong??"

Oh oh oh oh...

I know the answer to this one....

most people wouldn't give a ****.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

First, your present offering is not a question, Hawk. The one in the title of this thread is. Moreover, "run into" is in quotes. Think on it a bit.

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@Rockhead,

This is as clear an illustration as any that Rocky is his avatar.

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

hawkeye10 wrote:

It is never the trains fault,

that is not correct

You are correct.

0 Replies

@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

It is never the trains fault, so insinuating that the train is at fault is always wrong. That is my point. I am not sure why the headlines now get this wrong, it may well be ignorance. It may be watching too many summer action movies.

You do realize that EVEN trains have speed limits when it comes to passing through neighborhoods of a certain population density or higher? I suspect that certain vehicle/train accidents where the train is found at fault is for that reason. The train has been traveling far past its legal speed limit for whatever reason.

http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/default.aspx

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Do Trains ever "run into" Road Traffic at Grade Crossings?

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