Car/Train Collisions

[William H.]

After reading about a tragic collision between a car and a train in which the car had stalled, I was wondering why I've heard of so many vehicles stalling on the tracks. Then someone called the local talk radio show and said he had heard something about the cause being some type of electrical pulse generated by a train that is carried along the track, it then interferes with equipment in the car which causes it to shut off. This is supposedly works similarly to devices that are made for the police to stop fleeing suspects.

I did a search for info on the train/car effect but didn't find anything, I was wondering if anyone had heard of this before.

Will

 

[arcticpenguin]

I have not heard of it before and it's a load of BS.

I have never stalled a car on the tracks. I would guess a combination of the driver slowing down, hitting bumps and shifting gears. Or maybe he slowed down but didn't shift gears, that would explain it.

 

[uneasy]

Sounds like bunk to me. That is a tragic story, BUT...

If you want to see something scary, take a cross country (USA) train trip, and sit in the viewing bubble on top if they still have those. You will see car after car racing to get across the tracks right in front of the train. The first time I saw this, I almost expected the train to screech to a halt like in the movies, but it happened again and again without incident. Later I heard train people are used to seeing this all the time.

 

[Peterson]

Anyone from Boston...

This happens all the time on the Green Line. A car speeds across the tracks and nearly gets hit. It is about the dumbest thing in the world. The train takes a few seconds to cross the intersections but people would risk thier life/car to save those few seconds. The train can usually stop/slow down in time but I almost get knocked on my a** and spill my coffee.

 

[swellman]

I saw a television show on this issue some years back (sorry, no cite). They ran footage from Louisiana taken by a local news crew for such a story. While the local news anchor was on the train talking about folks trying to outrun the train, some guy slams right into the side of the locomotive. I mean 40+ MPH. The car (and driver) were dragged at least 50 yards before the car was tossed free. The driver was lucky to live. The show claimed many impacts of a car into the side of a train result in the car being dragged until the train can stop, rolling and deforming along the way. Most occupants do not survive such a collision.

There are also stories of people fooling around in cars on the tracks, usually a joke gone bad.

Even here in Massachusetts, where there aren't that many trains anymore, cars have collisions with trains. Some people drive around the crossing guards into the path of the oncoming trains. And that's not counting the suicides.

I have heard these stories for years, and I will never understand.

 

[jimlintott]

I was wondering why I've heard of so many vehicles stalling on the tracks.

If you stall on the tracks and get hit by a train we hear about it. Stall while backing from your drive and you won't make the six o'clock news.

There is no particular reason that a car will stall on the tracks any more than any where else. In a day so many cars stall and so many cars cross tracks that it becomes inevitable that someone will stall on the tracks. Be at the wrong tracks at the wrong time and a train comes along. I suspect that some people aren't even stalled. They are just so stupid that they stop on the tracks.

If you find yourself stopped on railway tracks you are probably a complete idiot who can't drive. Just like one of those morons who broadsides a train. What are they thinking?

 

[magimix]

Certainly in the UK news reports crop up now and then about cars getting hit on tracks, and again, it often doesn't make sense (most of the time at any rate).

Having said that, I was driving back from a training session once when I was caught in heavy traffic at a crossing. Now most of the drivers were being *complete* prats; rather than waiting for enough space to get across the tracks in one go, they were creeping over them slowly, frequently stopping on the tracks themselves.

Well on guy did this, and while he was on the tracks the track barriers started to come down! The guy must have been bricking it - he was flashing his lights, and beeping his car-horn. He managed to creep forward ever so slightly as one of the barrier gates actually tried to close on his car. It was quite funny to see this big gate crash down onto the car repeatedly while the driver freaked out.

All was well in the end and he was able to move before any trains turned up. Lets hope he learned his lesson!

 

[Soapy Sam]

In recent years , I have heard at least three variations on the following scenario.

Driver gets stuck on track. Driver either runs to nearest house to use phone, or calls in on mobile, but not quite in time to avoid a train hitting the vehicle.

Now I realise that where the collision is avoided in such an incident, especially by a large margin, it will be unlikely to make the news, so there is reporting bias.

However, in cynic mode, I find myself wondering if this is actually an attention getting stunt which sometimes goes wrong, or even a deliberate attempt to wreck a train for the sheer twisted fun of it, with the emergency call simply a ruse to divert blame.

 

[BillyJoe]

There is no particular reason that a car will stall on the tracks any more than any where else. In a day so many cars stall and so many cars cross tracks that it becomes inevitable that someone will stall on the tracks. Be at the wrong tracks at the wrong time and a train comes along.

Think of the odds......

(Number of cars that stall) X (length of roads that cross tracks / total length of roads) X (time trains take to cross roads / total travel times for all trains)


Hmmm......I think there is something sucking them there.

 

[MRC_Hans]

Cars rarely stall while going along a straight road. Cars stall when you fumble a start. Some people make a full stop before tracks, and some will stall when starting to roll again. In the US, I understand most cars have automatic transmission, otherwise it would be no problem to get away from the tracks, even if the car is stalled: In third gear, a car will roll at walking speed on hte starter, when you have just been driving, even a weak battery should take you the few yards needed (it's tough on the starter and battery, but sure beats waiting for the train).

Hans

 

[BillyJoe]

.....most cars have automatic transmission, otherwise it would be no problem to get away from the tracks.....

It's no problem anyway, you just......get out of the car and......take a few steps forward.....

 

[Crossbow]

After reading about a tragic collision between a car and a train in which the car had stalled, I was wondering why I've heard of so many vehicles stalling on the tracks. Then someone called the local talk radio show and said he had heard something about the cause being some type of electrical pulse generated by a train that is carried along the track, it then interferes with equipment in the car which causes it to shut off. This is supposedly works similarly to devices that are made for the police to stop fleeing suspects.

I did a search for info on the train/car effect but didn't find anything, I was wondering if anyone had heard of this before.

Will

You would be surprised how often that sort of thing happens.

I was a transportation engineer for several years and my area had the distinction of being the leading area for car/train collisions. Once I was at a meeting with a CSX executive who started off as a train engineer, and he had quite a few personal stories of narrowly avoiding people, cars, buses, even a gasoline truck that were on the tracks oblivious to the oncoming train.

The most recent bizzare case I can think of involved someone who was sleeping on the tracks with his legs draped over them, and guess what? A train came along and cut off his legs.

What I have seen lately, is that video cameras are being installed at railroad crossings that can be viewed by the train engineer a few miles before his train actually gets to that crossing. In this way, if something is stuck on the track, then he can take action ahead of time instead of having to deal with it at the last minute.

 

[garys_2k]

... otherwise it would be no problem to get away from the tracks, even if the car is stalled: In third gear, a car will roll at walking speed on hte starter, when you have just been driving, even a weak battery should take you the few yards needed (it's tough on the starter and battery, but sure beats waiting for the train).

Hans

Here in the U.S. manual transmission cars seem to have the starter motor interlocked with the clutch pedal -- no starter if you don't have the pedal down to the floor. It's probably saved more than a few garage walls and doors, but would prevent the type of emergency "electric drive" you describe.

 

[jimlintott]

A friend of mine is a locomotive engineer and he tells me (I'm scant on the details) that there is a current in the tracks that they use to see if a line has a train on it. Apparently if you short out the tracks it appears to be occupied. Not enough to effect a car though.

This reminds of a funny prank we used to play on people when I was younger.

We'd be out partying. Drinking, smoking etc. If my buddy and I ended up with some people in the car that weren't aware and we were driving down this one particular back road we would stop on these railroad tracks. The line was abandoned but they usually didn't know that. So we would park right on the tracks. Turn off the car and get out with the excuse that we had to relieve ourselves. We'd wander off towards the woods saying something stupid like 'if a train comes, just open the doors and let it through'. Then we'd watch to see what they would do. The smart ones got out of the car and moved away from the tracks. It was pretty hilarious.

 

[Monketi Ghost]

... This is supposedly works similarly to devices that are made for the police to stop fleeing suspects.

Will

Never heard of any such device, or one having been used. Can you elaborate? Wouldn't such a device stop the cop's car as well? Is it an EM pulse or something?

 

[arcticpenguin]

And why are there police chases if they can stop the suspect's car at will?

 

[davidhorman]

The closest I've heard of to the EM pulse thing was a lance that is fired out of the front of the police car and into the back of the target car, and then zaps it. If you wanted to do the EM pulse thing without the lance, you'd probably have to shield the pulse car. And with all the electronics in cars these days, frying everything would probably results in more death and destruction than the trusty stinger.

The most unsettling "parked on the tracks" story I heard was of a motorist who found himself and his vehicle right over the lines, and he knew a train would be on the way. He could the police to tell them, and the operator told him to "stay on the line." Unfortunately he took her literally and was killed *

David

* Could be an urban legend, but I'm pretty sure I read about the inquest on the BBC's site

 

[jimlintott]

I once saw on TV some device that was like an RC car that they would launch from the police car drive it under the suspect car hit a switch and some EM pulse(?) would disable the car. I'm not really clear on how it owrked but it wouldn't really elimnate chases as they had to be chasing the car to begin with. It would shorten chases but didn't look too practical to me.

I'm sorry I have no details on the theory of its operation.

 

[davidhorman]

I think I saw that too Jim. My recollection is that the unit was rocket-propelled and deployed from under the front bumper of the pursuing car. Once it was clear it deployed brush contacts which would connect with the underside of the target car and deliver the pulse.

David

 

[William H.]

I once saw on TV some device that was like an RC car that they would launch from the police car drive it under the suspect car hit a switch and some EM pulse(?) would disable the car. I'm not really clear on how it owrked but it wouldn't really elimnate chases as they had to be chasing the car to begin with. It would shorten chases but didn't look too practical to me.

I'm sorry I have no details on the theory of its operation.

That's the one I saw on TV also, I think they were still testing it and it wasn't quite ready for widespread use.

Will