Maybe you can beat the train
September 8th 2007 09:45 am
In Hammond, Ind., last Saturday, a 32 year-old woman with four children in her minivan attempted to beat a freight train to a grade crossing. Although she beat the train, she apparently didn’t notice another freight train approaching from the opposite direction. Her minivan collided with the second train. The minivan then bounced into the first train.
Two of the children, ages 8 and 11, were ejected from the minivan and pronounced dead at the scene. The other two children, ages 3 and 13, spent four days in the hospital. The woman was still in the hospital as of Thursday.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District has released a video showing the minivan racing and colliding with the trains.
Maybe you can beat the train. Maybe you’re dead wrong.
Joe Versaggi responded on 10 Sep 2007 at 10:26 am #
Follow-up news on this:
http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=37783
Joe Versaggi responded on 11 Sep 2007 at 9:35 am #
The mother has died, orphaning her 2 sons:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/551408,train091107.article
Jishnu Mukerji responded on 07 Oct 2007 at 11:48 am #
It is just mindboggling how often these sorts of things happen. I was on the Silver Star last year and soon after departing Orlando had the dubious distinction of watching one such unfold involving the train I was on. The crossing was on a curve. I was in the 9210 car which was then the 5th car in the train - P42, baggage, dorm and 9211 car ahead of it.
As we approached I watched with horror out of my window as a car raced towards the crossing ahead of us. There was much whistling by the engineer. Then there was sound of the dropping of air, as I witnessed the car - a Honda Civic, have its front clipped by the train, spin around on my side of the train and land pretty much a little behind my roomette as the train came to a screeching halt from the 30mph or so that it was doing then.
Fortunately there were no fatalities that time. The front of the car was destroyed, the driver survived and a very angry dog in the backseat had to be taken out carefully lest he eat someone alive to vent his anger.
I later checked the front of the engine of our train, and there literally was not a single visible scratch on it anywhere.
The image of that accident will remain in my head forever. I wonder why drivers don’t get it, that they will lose in a collision with a train, unless they are driving a truck carrying steel beams or such.