P&W accident in Killingly - 12/23

(Killingly-AP, Dec. 23, 2004 Updated 8:09 AM ) _ Two 31-year-old men are dead after their car was hit by a freight train in Killingly.

State police say the collision occurred about one-thirty this morning when a car heading west on North Street failed to stop for the warning signal as a southbound Providence and Worcester freight train approached, state police said.

The right side of the car was struck, killing both occupants. The victims have been identified as Ronald Satteson Junior of Brooklyn, the driver, and Derek Waidler of Plainfield.

The bodies of the two men were taken to the state medical examiner's office.

Another case of the train wins.

When will these idiots learn

Boy, that is a shame any day, but worse over the holidays. But I can't help but feel mad that they would do such a stupid thing.

What is more disturbing to me is the interviews the news media did with the neighbors. They all said "The trains come through here fast and there aren't any of those arms at the crossing". Or "It was bound to happen cuz there were no gates".

The lights and bells were found to be in perfect working order at the crossing. Does anyone think that crossing gates would stop a car that would run a crossing. I spent more than a decade as a freight train conductor and witnessed cars crashing through lowered gates or running around them.

Has it been determined if the drive of the car was driving impaired???? It WAS after 1:00 in the morning. Did the fog obliterate the lights and bell at the crossing????

In any case, in all my years of professional railroading I have rarely found the TRAIN to be at fault. If the car had run a traffic light at a regular intersection and hit trailer truck, would we automatically blame the truck driver?? I doubt it.

It seems trying to enforce the laws regarding stopping at railroad crossings are tough to enforce.

1) a cop wouldn't want to sit at a New England crossing because a train may not come for quite a while. And then they don't know if someone will actually drive through/around when a train does arrive. Maybe in other parts of the country, the wait would be worth it.

2) how do you give the offending driver driver a ticket when he/she is dead? Only way is to grab them if they do indeed beat the train to the crossing, but then the cop is in danger.

3) how do you teach potential offenders that they shouldn't drive through/around signals in the first place? How about an ad campaign like the ones used for drunk driving? Some of those are quite thought-provoking...

I dunno... just seems like a stupid thing to do. I was once told the fine is quite high for abusing the crossings. Anyone know the dollar amount?

JD

There are occasional demonstrations of cars getting hit by trains usually done with Operation Lifesaver, they get an older car, put it on the tracks and smack into it with a locomotive. Never gotten to see one of these live, but i recall seeing a tape of it once.

I am so drunk I pass out on a set of railroad tracks and the railroad is partially culpable for my death because they provided access to the right of way........regardless that I could have stumbled down the rails from one of tens of thousands of railroad grade crossings or passenger stations across the land. Such is the dogma espoused and propagated by the legal profession in the interests of lining their own pockets at the peril of our very culture. Personal responsibility? Can't make any money off that. Don't think for a moment this litigiousness has not played an enormous role in the demise of rail transportation and the interrelated industrial manufacturing base. One thousand years from now Islamic sociologists will analyze the rise and fall of the United States and focus on lawyers much the same way we speak of lead vessels utilized by the Romans. A part of that choir I am not.

Living in MA, I am not suprised no one wants to actually promote anything good or safe in this state. The whole place is out of control and the fact we are getting press about being the only state to LOOSE population this year only drives home the fact. Without getting into politics, I will just say the last thing MA would do is spend money, or even just some time, promoting safety at railroad crossings. They can't even keep drunk drivers in jail for more than a day...

Jonelle
UhOh... on the soapbox again

CSX Conductor wrote:Another case of the train wins.

When will these idiots learn

I know, CSX Conductor. I'm also wandering the same thing myself, scratching my head. I think its time for something to be done and educate people in the area not to drive around the gates at all.

Maybe installation of iron-made wall that goes up and down (similar to the ones at the Pennsylvania Ave entrance of the WHite House) may help solving the issues, have a 7-foot wall go up when the train approaches, and after it clears, the wall will go down to the road pavement, just like the Entrance to the White House.

NellsChoo wrote:It seems trying to enforce the laws regarding stopping at railroad crossings are tough to enforce.

Only way is to grab them if they do indeed beat the train to the crossing, but then the cop is in danger.

JD

Simple, park a cruiser on each side of the crossing.

Meghan wrote:[

3) how do you teach potential offenders that they shouldn't drive through/around signals in the first place? ...

Put it in the license manual and the written test for a driver’s license. Its really back to Grandfather’s basic statement – “A crossbuck is a stop sign. What part of STOP do you not understand?”



Meg
(1LT MP USAR)

Meg, in Massachusetts it is in the RMV's Rules of the Road manual when studying for your license.

bobbarbn wrote: Does anyone think that crossing gates would stop a car that would run a crossing.

Hey Bob, to answer that question I would suggest going to West Sprinfield on the CSX main-line....just west of the west Springfield Yard, there are two crossings (Bridge Street & First Street) which are right next to each other........and people always go around the dam gates.

http://oli.org/

CSX.....I've worked the W. Spfld. yard years ago.....know what you are talking about.

Some years back we had Channel 30 TV ride in the locomotive with us as we pulled a freight from Middletown, CT to Cedar Hill Yard in N. Haven. They filmed the entire run and could not believe how people would either run the crossings or stop and then cross only a couple 100 feet in front of us.

Just when we thought it was over:

(New London-WTNH, Dec.27, 2004 10:40 AM) _ An Amtrak train hit a tractor-trailer on the tracks this morning, but no one was injured.

An Amtrak spokeswoman says it happened around 8 a.m. this morning on Water Street.

Train 95 was traveling from Boston to Newport News, Virginia when the accident happened. Damage was minor and the truck was removed from the tracks and the train was allowed to continue on its way.

There were 173 passengers on board. The train is running on a 45 minute delay.

bobbarbn wrote:the truck was removed from the tracks and the train was allowed to continue on its way.

Moved from the tracks upon impact? or after everything else LOL