Pure Sucky Driver Ownage

[mikoyan29]

For those of you who haven't seen the video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOPtw5ZLX_c . Impact is 11 seconds into the tape,
emergency brakes go on immediately, dynamics kick in a couple seconds later, train finally halts at :55. That's 44 seconds from 70 miles an hour to stop, which is pretty damn good for a train. The report said nobody in the train was injured, but they're lucky nobody was in the restroom having a piss at the time, or waiting for his order in the cafe car, as they'd have gone flying when the brakes went on.

You know who I feel sorry for? The engineer of the train. He's doing his job, minding his business, when this moron (driving on a suspended license, according to the reports) drives out in front of him, and there's not a damned thing he can do but sit there and watch. Not to mention that poor conductor who had to walk around the train and see what was left of the five people in the car. (at 2:19 into the tape).

I remember an interview (in TRAINS magazine) with an anonymous engineer who said he refuses to feel guilty if/when he hits someone, which he'd done four times in his career. His attitude was, he owns the piece of real estate his train is running on, he declares that ownership by virtue of the flashing lights, the horn, the bells, the gates, and all the rest of the safety equipment. Nobody but he has the right to be there until he's done with it, and anyone who gets in his way is a tresspasser and has nobody to blame but his own self. Callous? No, realistic. Can't beat yourself up for something that you couldn't prevent.

I wish I could find the video they showed on the news. I forget if there was 1 or 2 cars stopped ahead of our rocket scientist driver, but anyways he pulls behind the last car in line and decides to drive around and go around the gate. Train looked like it basically came from out of nowhere and smashed into the car.

But yes, I feel sorry for that engineer.

[Seshat]

My father once told me that if you're unlucky enough to stall on the train tracks, and the lights/signals start flashing, get everyone OUT OF THE CAR and write off the car.

Priority 1: survive.

Don't bother keeping trying to get the car restarted. Just GO.

[Shalom]

I wish I could find the video they showed on the news. I forget if there was 1 or 2 cars stopped ahead of our rocket scientist driver, but anyways he pulls behind the last car in line and decides to drive around and go around the gate. Train looked like it basically came from out of nowhere and smashed into the car.

But yes, I feel sorry for that engineer.

Took a little digging, but I found it.

Raw footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaJlja0YPyE

Footage from Detroit Free Press showing a cop discussing the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcgBu0IUIPc

[Andara Bledin]

I remember an interview (in TRAINS magazine) with an anonymous engineer who said he refuses to feel guilty if/when he hits someone, which he'd done four times in his career. His attitude was, he owns the piece of real estate his train is running on, he declares that ownership by virtue of the flashing lights, the horn, the bells, the gates, and all the rest of the safety equipment. Nobody but he has the right to be there until he's done with it, and anyone who gets in his way is a tresspasser and has nobody to blame but his own self. Callous? No, realistic. Can't beat yourself up for something that you couldn't prevent.

Good for him.

I, too, feel sorry for the people who are plagued by guilt over someone else Darwinning themselves on their shift.

But some people are just too stupid to live, and every so often, they go and prove it to the world. It's just a shame that they almost never do it alone and without witnesses.

^-.-^

[Midorikawa]

Good for him.

I, too, feel sorry for the people who are plagued by guilt over someone else Darwinning themselves on their shift.

But some people are just too stupid to live, and every so often, they go and prove it to the world. It's just a shame that they almost never do it alone and without witnesses.

^-.-^

it's also a shame they went and proved it to the world without involving others, much like the Darwin Award winner who won for taking a sledge hammer to unexploded military ordnance, or the darwin award runners up a few years back who won by having sex on the roof of a building and fell to their deaths in the process overnight.

[mikoyan29]

Took a little digging, but I found it.

Raw footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaJlja0YPyE

Footage from Detroit Free Press showing a cop discussing the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcgBu0IUIPc

Thanks, although the comments section was pretty choice.

[XCashier]

What does he do? He RAMS HIS GAS to give me the "attitude" peel away and sticks his middle finger out the window as he is driving away.

Only the finger he stuck out the window also happened to be clenched to his cell phone...........which he dropped into the street........and it immediately got run over by the car behind him

I am so glad I wasn't eating or drinking anything when I read this! Karma is not only a bitch, she has a wicked sense of humor!

I remember an interview (in TRAINS magazine) with an anonymous engineer who said he refuses to feel guilty if/when he hits someone, which he'd done four times in his career. His attitude was, he owns the piece of real estate his train is running on, he declares that ownership by virtue of the flashing lights, the horn, the bells, the gates, and all the rest of the safety equipment. Nobody but he has the right to be there until he's done with it, and anyone who gets in his way is a tresspasser and has nobody to blame but his own self. Callous? No, realistic. Can't beat yourself up for something that you couldn't prevent.

I can understand why he feels that way. So many engineers have beaten themselves up for accidentally killing someone when that idiot decides to race the train. It is physically impossible to stop a train on a dime, but it's only human to feel bad if such a thing happens, and it can drive a person crazy.

Still, if you're stupid enough to play chicken with a train, I'm sorry, you deserve what you get and I hope you have no passengers in the car with you. If you challenge the laws of physics, you will lose, every time.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Took a little digging, but I found it.

Raw footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaJlja0YPyE

Footage from Detroit Free Press showing a cop discussing the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcgBu0IUIPc

There's another video out there of some woman in Chicago running out in front of a commuter train, getting hit by said commuter train, and going flying into the camera.

I don't know if I should post a link to that one. It's very very graphic, and people can probably find it on their own.