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Tractor trailer crashes into Amtrak train

bobwg

bobwg

Expert Expediter
Foxnews.com Federal authorities looking into the medical and driving records of the driver of the tractor trailer that crashed into the side of an Amtrak train yesterday in Nevada. Nevada Highway Patrol says the warning lights were on and the crossing gates were down when the truck which appeared to make no attempt to slow down or stop crashed into the Amtrak train killing 4 passengers and the truck driver. Another 20 passegers on the train were injured and taken to hospitals in Fallon and Reno
 
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redytrk

redytrk

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
This driver is going to experience what its like to be put under a microscope. Every cell phone, fuel receipt, truck computer. will be investigated.

Better be in order.
 
Turtle

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
He'll still probably experience what its like to be put under a microscope, except it'll be a literal and not a figurative one. :D
 
moose

moose

Veteran Expediter
"The National Transportation Safety Board said its investigators were on the way to the scene."

Here we go again,
the NTSB is a federal agency, and have no needs to investigate what is clearly a simple accident investigation .
the ONLY rezone they are there, is the current administration micro managed its local authority's.
NTSB findings have a tendency to improve gadgets manufacturing, politicians agendas, and limit drivers and citizens freedom. as those findings cannot be ignored by lawmakers.

and yes, sadly enough, the driver is dead,
but the ambulance chasers will go up the food chain.
and with carriers and drivers CSA score now in the open, the liability will not end there.
as our very own John Elliot said, with some luck to the injured passengers, he was hauling for some wealthy shipper.
 
chefdennis

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
Yea the NTSB really isn't needed in this instance, other then that it involves 2 different transportation industries...but ireally don't think this was am accident at all...from all that I have read, me thinks it was a suicide.....
 
xiggi

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
chefdennis said:
Yea the NTSB really isn't needed in this instance, other then that it involves 2 different transportation industries...but ireally don't think this was am accident at all...from all that I have read, me thinks it was a suicide.....
Click to expand...

Well they did say the truck used it's brakes, if that is so then probably not a suicide unless he tried to change his mind at the last minute.
 
Turtle

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
chefdennis said:
Yea the NTSB really isn't needed in this instance, other then that it involves 2 different transportation industries...
Click to expand...
By law, the NTSB always has primacy in investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States, as well as all pipeline and rail accidents that involve a fatality. It's not a case of the current administration micro managing its local authority (where do people come up with this stuff?). It's a case of being required by law, by Congress, to do so.

United States Code: Title 49,
§ 1131. General authority

(a) General.— (1) The National Transportation Safety Board shall investigate or have investigated (in detail the Board prescribes) and establish the facts, circumstances, and cause or probable cause of—

(B) a highway accident, including a railroad grade crossing accident, the Board selects in cooperation with a State;

(C) a railroad accident in which there is a fatality or substantial property damage, or that involves a passenger train;
 
chefdennis

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
Well since I simply stated that they weren't needed, I can also say that in THIS ONE INSTANCE (not to be confused wilt 99% of the soapbox post aimed at barry) I wasn't taking a shot at the current admin...

I understand that "NTSB" is always involved with Aviation and Rail accidents...but in alot of cases, there really is no need for it, it is a power thing on some levels and situations...the feds need to control.....as a kid one of my early jobs was as a "goofer" for the mechanics at a Major corp. hanger at the local airport....if those guys hit wing tips with another aircraft while under power moving on the ground with n intent of the plane ever leaving the ground, a NTSB report was done and an agent would come out...

There are times when its just not needed, alot of times it is just duplication of investigation....And we all know that the Fed Gov is always lookin out as to how they spend the taxpayer dollars....never any waste of duplicate services....but they, they have a budget and they have to spend it all or they won't get as uch next time around.....
 
moose

moose

Veteran Expediter
Deer federal investigators .
please stay in WDC,
i can save you the trip.
am an experienced trucker, and have crossed that railroad crossing many a times, while fully heavily loaded.
when you get to the scene of the accident you WILL scratch your head .
the crossing is in the middle of nowhere, flat dune lands.
the rails and trains can be seen approaching from many miles away, and the crossing is well marked & very smooth .
there are only 2 recommendations you will comeup with to avoid a repeated accident.
building an overpass (useless spending), in seek of a risk free society ,
or installing bells & sound buzzers to alert all the blind drivers.

you see, there's no REAL rezone for that accident to happens, this is not about the law, nor accident prevention .
the sheriff's office local accident investigators can easily rap it up in a day.
but no, the feds will make a mountain out of a mouse, and tell us all we must obey new regulations.
just don't let me tell the bad joke about making a coffee for an old train conductor...(it's involved the conductor smashing the kettle to the ground and jumping on it, hysterically yelling that his best friend died from being trucked by an steam locomotive, and we need to kill them while they are small...)
 
Turtle

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
An update. Truck company in Amtrak wreck had citations

Note particularly that the driver was the lead driver of three trucks.

The drivers were part of a three-truck convoy that saw the gates come down and the warning lights go off as the California Zephyr approached, National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said Saturday.

Two truck drivers and a train engineer watched helplessly as a semitrailer skidded the length of a football field before it smashed through crossing gates and into the train before noon on Friday.


 
Turtle

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
After seeing the headling, I thought the story would show just a plethora of citations for the company. They had to dig deep to find just one OOS violation in the last two years. I'm sure there are plenty of expedite carriers that would be thrilled with just one OOS violation in two years.

So, the OMG those reckless truckers! headline of "Trucking Company in Amtrack Wreck Had Citations" becomes more of a, Well, duh, name a carrier who doesn't have citations. Sheesh. Oil leaks and burned out bulbs. Gimme a break.
 
cheri1122

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
"Overall, large truck crashes caused 199 injuries in Nevada last year, but federal authorities don't detail who was at fault." [Why not? They want to know everything about us, including what we are doing 24/7, but they don't want to know who's causing large truck crashes?!]
Research has shown that 67% of those crashes are caused by 4 wheelers, so large trucks can probably be blamed for causing 46 crashes with injuries [anything from a sprained ankle up to serious harm] in one state over the course of a year.
Wow.
 
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