Railroad Forums 

  • Interesting near miss on the Finger Lakes in Solvay

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #1498138  by SST
 
There are 4 things I see in this picture that may not place the entire blame on the driver of the car:

1-Snow banks along the street are pretty high and look like they are taller than the car, therefore restricting his view.
2-Sun appears to be very bright and in the drivers face further making his view restricted.
3-How fast is the train going? From the looks of it, he's kicking up a fair amount of snow as he enters an unprotected crossing.
4-If you mentally back the train and car up, the train is likely kicking up the new snow fall, sun in the drivers face, tall snow embackments, probably never saw it coming until he was already in front of it. He may have been thinking, should I stop or keep going. What if he did see it and slammed on the brakes. Likely would have slid to a stop right in front of the train. Safer to keep going.

Both are lucky.
 #1498149  by CPSmith
 
SST wrote:There are 4 things I see in this picture that may not place the entire blame on the driver of the car:

1-Snow banks along the street are pretty high and look like they are taller than the car, therefore restricting his view.
2-Sun appears to be very bright and in the drivers face further making his view restricted.
3-How fast is the train going? From the looks of it, he's kicking up a fair amount of snow as he enters an unprotected crossing.
4-If you mentally back the train and car up, the train is likely kicking up the new snow fall, sun in the drivers face, tall snow embankments, probably never saw it coming until he was already in front of it. He may have been thinking, should I stop or keep going. What if he did see it and slammed on the brakes. Likely would have slid to a stop right in front of the train. Safer to keep going.

Both are lucky.
Your points may be valid, but that will not save you from a ticket and none will hold up in court, should it get that far.
As an operator of a motor vehicle, you are required to yield to the train. If you are struck, then you failed to yield.
If you claim you couldn't stop in time (snow, ice, etc.), then you were going to fast for the conditions.
At best, it's just a traffic ticket. At worst, it's an early grave.