Unique Safety Barricades Tested at Mich. Railroad Crossing

March 5, 2008

  • March 5, 2008 at 11:19 am
    lastbat says:
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    I’ll have to remember to follow this study next year.

    A local transit company just finished installing a new rail line with more safety features than previous lines – though not with this technology. As they are looking to continue expansion it would be nice to have something like this in place.

    The transit company was preparing a video to educate residents near the new line, and one thing they were going to do was show improper behaviors near the line – one of which being dodging the gates. As the transit employee was psyching himself up to do the take the camera caught a truck dodging the gates with an oncoming train. The employee was off the hook for the take and they probably got better footage.

  • March 5, 2008 at 1:48 am
    Mr. Obvious says:
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    I saw a video of some of these being used in Europe to block a roadway to traffic other than transit buses. The video was hilarious because a car attempted to follow a bus onto the roadway and the deliniators rose and lifted the back end of his car off the pavement about three feet.

    it will be really interesting so see the timing of these coming up as the train arrives. If the cross arms start down first or the alarms sound, I can see a driver attempting to swerve around the barricades and the delineators coming up as the car is crossing over them. Running parallel to traffic, they could flip a car if the come up at the wrong time.

  • March 5, 2008 at 1:53 am
    Evolutionist says:
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    This sounds like a good idea but eventually all the morons who decide to drive around gates or stop on railroad tracks will no longer be around.

  • March 5, 2008 at 2:05 am
    One Born Everyday says:
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    No way because there is a new moron born everyday.

  • March 5, 2008 at 2:44 am
    Mary says:
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    I know this is probably insensitive, but I’ve got to say that it absolutely baffles me that there are so many accidents and fatalities of this type each year. Lights go off, in most cases a big arm comes down, and people still manage to put themselves in front of an oncoming train. What in your right mind would possess you to try to outrun a train or beat a giant arm that, even if you don’t get hit by a train, will still damage your car if you don’t swerve around it in time. I understand that there are morons out there who will try to dodge whatever system we put in place, but the fact that there are so many each year is just ridiculous!

  • March 5, 2008 at 3:13 am
    Nobody Important says:
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    We have money for this, but our roads are in worse shape than anywhere else in the country. We can’t drive over 10 miles an hour in most areas due to the potholes of various sizes. I have lived here my entire life and have never seen such poor road maintenance at every level. Great for the car repair industry of course.

  • March 5, 2008 at 4:22 am
    Dread says:
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    How about this? Teach people to “stop, look, and listen” before crossing the tracks. It won’t cost anything, and is 100% effective. I am opposed to idiot-proofing everything in society to protect the 5% who don’t care enough about their own life. Nobody on the train ever gets hurt. If someone is that stupid and careless, we don’t need to spend money to protect them against themselves. They’ll just find something else to apply their stupidity to.

  • March 6, 2008 at 7:47 am
    Nobody Important says:
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    Those people who want to go around barriers always will. I worry about the train people who have to look into the eyes of someone they can’t possibly avoid grinding into hamburger. My brother in law is a train engineer and although he has never been in a fatal collision, has seen a lot of stupid people in a hurry. I think about them, not the idiots who think they can beat the train to gain 30 seconds.

  • March 6, 2008 at 7:54 am
    Ratemaker says:
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    Beating a train saves a heck of a lot more than 30 seconds. I have a railroad crossing that I have to go past every day on my way to work. Getting stopped by that train can make the difference between being 10 minutes early and 15 minutes late.

    I’m still not stupid enough to try to beat the train once the “arm” starts to move, though.

  • March 6, 2008 at 9:00 am
    Al says:
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    Being in a hurry or saving time are ridiculous reasons to roll the dice with a train. The train always wins. I agree that are certain people who will always find a way to avoid barricades and safety devices. I say …….let them be. They don’t care enough about themselves so why should we? Re-engineering everything in society to protect a few morons from themselves is costing us billions of dollars we can use for real projects. Plus, it’s part of the natural selection process to reduce the number of morons in the world. No sympathy here.



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