Major grade-crossing accident in Valhalla 2/3/15

Glad the officer was paying attention since the driver was not. I wonder if he wrote the driver a ticket for blocking the tracks??? If he did, the media should report that too.

justalurker66 wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:please don't guess and speculate unless you read all and viewed all NTSB statements.

Please don't guess and/or speculate even if you have read all and viewed all NTSB statements.

Please feel free to guess and speculate AS LONG AS you clearly mark it as guessing and speculating. It's easier to say "I speculate" because that's less colloquial than "I guess", I guess.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: Much earlier in the discussion, I posted the Googlemobile's rendering of the scene, but I guess in order to post photos directly to this site, you need be registered at a photo-sharing site such as, in your case, Photobucket.

As an alternative, possible, you could just use Google Drive, and use a site to convert the links you share with people into links pointing directly to the file themselves - in this case, images.

The grade crossing crash in California was mentioned in the discussion of this Valhalla crash.

The MetroLink engineer has died of his injuries.

yes it has and it has no place here ......

A driver inching along in snarled traffic found herself trapped on the Roaring Brook Road grade crossing yesterday. The crossing is on the Harlem Line in Chappaqua about six miles north of the Commerce Street crossing where the collision in the OP took place. Traffic had backed up from the nearby Saw Mill Parkway intersection and cars were stopping on the tracks. When a train came along and the gates activated one driver had to reverse and strike the gate (which broke off) in order to clear the crossing.

"She was heading West," New Castle Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein wrote about the preliminary information. "She kept inching forward. She found herself on the tracks when the arm came down and the train was coming. She threw her car in reverse and broke through."...The supervisor, who is seeking federal funding to replace the grade crossing with a bridge, has noted its proximity to the parkway's interchange and to Horace Greeley High School as issues...Westchester County records indicate there have been 490 accidents at the interchange since 2006. News link

Below is a news photo showing the broken off gate resting against the warning signal. It looks like police stood by until the gate could be replaced.



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Was that"near miss" on friday or Sat?, at least that driver was ticketed for being in the crossing when the gates went down.
Noticed a Headline that a Mt Kisco Commuter is sueing MN about the Valhalla accident.

The news article I linked to below says it happened Saturday morning.

I wanted to add, a followup article notes the driver in the Roaring Brook Road incident, a Mt. Vernon woman, was ticketed by MTA police.

Cynthia Parent, 67, was issued the summons for obstructing a highway railroad/grade crossing by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police. According to Salvatore Arena, a spokesman for the MTA, "She should not have been on the crossing," Arena said. "She violated the law." Arena said Parent did the right thing by getting off the railroad tracks. MTA Police directed traffic until the gate was repaired at 1 p.m. Police also handled out 150 pamphlets on railroad safety, Arena said.

While police were directing traffic, two motorists did not stop and were also issued summons for a highway railroad/grade crossing, Arena said. Trains came through the area at a reduced speed, Arena said. News link

Tommy Meehan wrote:The news article I linked to below says it happened Saturday morning.

I wanted to add, a followup article notes the driver in the Roaring Brook Road incident, a Mt. Vernon woman, was ticketed by MTA police.

Cynthia Parent, 67, was issued the summons for obstructing a highway railroad/grade crossing by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police. According to Salvatore Arena, a spokesman for the MTA, "She should not have been on the crossing," Arena said. "She violated the law." Arena said Parent did the right thing by getting off the railroad tracks. MTA Police directed traffic until the gate was repaired at 1 p.m. Police also handled out 150 pamphlets on railroad safety, Arena said.

While police were directing traffic, two motorists did not stop and were also issued summons for a highway railroad/grade crossing, Arena said. Trains came through the area at a reduced speed, Arena said. News link

1. How did they catch her? Did she stick around after she backed up and broke the gate?
2. Two motorists didn't stop for what?

Terrapin Station wrote: 2. Two motorists didn't stop for what?

The crossing, presumably. The gate arm was broken off, leaving just the flashing lights. These two motorists probably drove through the crossing even though the lights were flashing, since there was no gate blocking them.

something tells me that these "close calls" happen a lot more often than televised. Everyone's mindset is that "it won't happen to me"

The Harlem Line grade crossing I cross most frequently is the one at Virgina Road in North White Plains, located about two miles south of the Commerce Street crossing, the scene of the accident. In the PM rush hour traffic on Virginia Road in the westbound direction towards the Bronx River Parkway interchange does sometimes back up to the point where traffic is stopped across the tracks. I have never stopped on the tracks but I see drivers do it all the time. When I stop short of the crossing I have had drivers behind me blow their horn. They want me to move up. I have even had drivers pull around me and then stop on the tracks. Especially during rush hour drivers are in a...rush. There are always a certain percentage of drivers who are very impatient and very aggressive. Nothing seems to matter to them other than covering every inch of their route -- and I mean literally every inch -- as quickly as they can.

Virgina Road looking west.

Virgina Road needs to be 4 gated,or,better yet, have a plain clothes PD officer or uniformed PD officer start handing out
blocking the crossing tickets like candy,getting a ticket that requires a court apperance should change some
mindsets real quick !

Having given this some thought I think what would be better is installing violation cameras. There are vendors who supply them and they often pay for themselves. The problem with having a police officer there is twofold: Nowadays most police departments are stretched pretty thin. I'm sure the MTA police would not have officers available on a regular basis. If they're not there all the time they are not going to be very effective. Second, drivers can sniff out police. Even a plainclothes cop in an unmarked car would have to park near the crossing. Drivers will spot the car and be on their best behavior.

In Yonkers the city installed cameras at select intersections and they have worked out pretty well. Cameras never call in sick, get reassigned, they don't take coffee breaks. If there are multiple violations a camera can catch them all. A camera never has it's head down filling out paperwork.

They would also need to put up signs, something like:

Warning. It is a violation of New York State Law
for a vehicle to stop on railroad tracks. Do Not
Enter the track area if you can't fully cross.
Do Not Stop On The Tracks. Violators will be ticketed.
Enforcement by camera.

As a taxpayer, a month ago I would have called this overkill and said it was not necessary. But five people lost their lives in the Commerce Street incident. Could it happen again? Yes it could. You know what people say, "They always wait until someone gets killed." Well now five someones got killed so let's take some action. This is the time to do it while people are still aware of what happened. If they were to put up cameras now people would know without being told: It's because of what happened in Valhalla. I think they should do it and I have emailed both of my state representatives.

That might be a good idea,it's a variant of the hated "RED Light" cameras,Just make sure the mailed ticket requires
a trip to the courthouse,not pay by mail escape route.