CCC1007
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Is ntsb investigating?
Southwest Chief #3(25)
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I don't know. Do they investigate all fatal accidents or just some?
CCC1007
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I think that the train would have been terminated at the scene if the NTSB were investigating as it takes them a couple days to gather evidence from the incident site.
jis
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Considering that we knew most of the relevant information about the two recent accidents involving fatalities way before NTSB or Amtrak said anything officially, if there is sufficient interest I suspect we will know more details soon enough. The problem then is separating the wheat from the chaff.
Ryan
Court Jester
Actually, it's pretty logical. Humans are terrible at assessing risk, especially out at the ends of the consequence and likelihood spectrum (like an extremely low likelihood, but extremely high consequence risk like getting killed at a grade crossing).
Adding on a much lower consequence (fine) but more rational likelihood (nearly 100% if you install a camera) would cause many people to avoid the fine and result in saving their life.
The NTSB only investigates major transportation accidents or ones of particular interest. The NTSB does not get involved in most grade crossing collisions. Those are left to local authorities and the FRA (when the FRA gets involved).
I think NTSB would only get involved in this case if there were injuries to train passengers or crew, or derailment of train or other serious train damage. Or if it could be shown that major safety equipment ( crossing gates, etc) had failed to operate as designed.
The pictures of the girls is heartbreaking. I read someplace else where there may have been trees near the crossing that made it harder to see the train. That's not an excuse but it may have been a factor in that the driver would only have to have been distracted perhaps a few seconds by one of his children or something else.
http://patch.com/illinois/chicago/mom-dad-3-kids-killed-amtrak-train-chicago-hits-their-minivan
http://patch.com/illinois/chicago/mom-dad-3-kids-killed-amtrak-train-chicago-hits-their-minivan
Devil's Advocate
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Perhaps they were distracted but my gut tells me the driver probably played loose and fast with their lives many times in the past. My guess is that this was simply the one time they didn't luck out after many years of testing fate. It's hard to imagine an otherwise safe driver randomly ending up on top of the tracks in front of a train.
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Thirdrail7
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This naturally assumes that the driver is familiar with the area or the crossing is clearly identified and marked.
jis
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It is possible that the driver had lost his way going to the church and landed up at the end of the road and was confused and distracted too.
I'd just be more apt to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Maybe it will come out he was texting on his phone. Or maybe he was a risk taker and just came up short this time. I'd like to think the best of him though and attribute it to something like being distracted at least until something proves otherwise.
I would agree. Let the poor family RIP and lets leave the negative comments somewhere out in space until evidence is presented to back an educated opinion.
Today's (06/28/2016) #3 was travelling 79.5 heading into Trinidad, pretty much a straight away where the collision occurred...
Apparently the installation of signals and gates at that crossing was just recently approved. If only that work had been completed by now....
http://www.chieftain.com/mobile/msearch/4888509-123/crossing-railroad-pages-pageset
http://www.chieftain.com/mobile/msearch/4888509-123/crossing-railroad-pages-pageset
rusty spike
OBS Chief
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the young family killed Sunday on the way to church and to the train crew, who through no fault of theirs, were involved. Only God knows why it happened. Maybe further investigate will shed more light on the "why". Meanwhile the remaining child will be devastated with this nightmare for the rest of her life, assuming she recovers.
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To be clear, I sympathize deeply with the fate of the vehicle's passengers. It's only the driver I'm not as sure about. I've spent forty odd years train spotting in the vicinity of grade crossings of nearly every type. Almost every vehicle that ever came close to being hit was driving foolishly. Heavy acceleration, tire screeching, sudden swerving, jumping curbs, crossing medians, ignoring safety warnings, and otherwise making a scene as they tried to beat the train.
After seeing this sort of thing play out hundreds of times it's hard for me to imagine someone following basic traffic rules and just randomly ending up in front of a train at the exact right moment for a perfect T-bone. That's a million to one shot in my book. Even in those relatively rare cases where the impact is caused by a mechanical failure chances are good that same vehicle had been disabled many other times long before it had a chance to die while crossing active mainline tracks.
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I read that witnesses said the vehicle tried to stop, but couldn't. Who knows. I can't believe that little 4 year old survived this. I hate to say it, but maybe it might have been better if she died with every one else. The healing process both physical and emotional is going to be hell on this little sweetheart.
No.
Ryan
Court Jester
Oh hell no.
greatcats
Engineer
Blackpup- I kind of see your point, but that last remark did not go over too well. Let us hope and pray the little girl will have a happy and fruitful life. On a material level, we could send contributions to the Go FundMe account for the family of Stephen Miller. ( I am not looking for pats on the back, but I made an online donation yesterday. )
On a related note, one of my former co-workers at New Jersey Transit suffered a tragedy in November, 2015. His younger brother, a conductor, was shot and killed by his wife, which was a murder-suicide. Horrible, leaving two young children, ages 6 and 8. My co-worker has taken an active interest in being with these children, who were taken in by grandparents. I am not saying they do not have traumas and complications from all this, but from his Facebook posts and what he tells me,they seem to be doing fairly well.
On a related note, one of my former co-workers at New Jersey Transit suffered a tragedy in November, 2015. His younger brother, a conductor, was shot and killed by his wife, which was a murder-suicide. Horrible, leaving two young children, ages 6 and 8. My co-worker has taken an active interest in being with these children, who were taken in by grandparents. I am not saying they do not have traumas and complications from all this, but from his Facebook posts and what he tells me,they seem to be doing fairly well.
Blackpup-I too see your point, but I'm with the others on the little sweetheart having a chance for a good life!
Devil's Advocate
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She's not yet old enough to fully comprehend the severity of the situation and is still young enough to form strong and lasting parental bonds with other members of the family. I would actually put her odds in positive territory. The way that the rest of her family reacts to this probably has more to do with how she well she recovers than anything else. If they act like this is the end of the world then that's probably how she'll interpret it as well. If they pay their respects and move on while keeping busy then she will too. Children can be surprisingly resilient in the face of adult adversity. I honestly cannot remember much of anything from my fourth year of existence. Hopefully that will become her situation as well when she grows older.
andersone
Conductor
Life is always better than the alternative. Always
Devil's Advocate
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That kind of irrational zero tolerance logic is how we end up with situations like Terri Schiavo. Many people fear and abhor death, just as I did as well when I was younger, but that's not how I see it today. To me death is the great equalizer. If your life is going even moderately well then death may sound like a terrible event to be avoided at all costs, but if your life is that of a drooling vegetable or child solider or torture victim or rape dungeon prisoner then death may be your only practical means of escape.
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