NER 125 (10/25) hits dump truck in Suffok VA

Just 20 minutes away from the last stop at NFK. Truck driver is dead. One passenger taken to the hospital with minor injuries. One eyewitness says the crossing arm was not down but police have not confirmed that.

https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/suffolk/1-dead-after-amtrak-train-hits-dump-truck-in-suffolk/1550452470

VAtrainfan said:

Just 20 minutes away from the last stop at NFK. Truck driver is dead. One passenger taken to the hospital with minor injuries. One eyewitness says the crossing arm was not down but police have not confirmed that.

https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/suffolk/1-dead-after-amtrak-train-hits-dump-truck-in-suffolk/1550452470

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Was the headlight on and the horn blowing? That's enough for me to put the blame squarely on the (as per usual) commercial truck driver. Lots of crossings don't even have arms to go down so depending on arms is nothing more than irrational cowboy logic.

The headlight and the markers are still on after the crash.

Not too far from where I live.

The malfunctioning or absence of crossing arms should not mean the malfunctioning or absence of common sense.

Whatever happened to: “Stop. Look, Listen?”

LookingGlassTie said:

Not too far from where I live.

The absence of crossing arms should not mean the absence of common sense.

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The video reporting said his truck got stuck and he couldn't get out. That opens up another whole line of questions...

VentureForth said:

LookingGlassTie said:

Not too far from where I live.

The absence of crossing arms should not mean the absence of common sense.

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The video reporting said his truck got stuck and he couldn't get out. That opens up another whole line of questions...

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Actually it does.

Because I concede that sometimes it isn't a driver's fault that his/her vehicle gets hit by a train.

LookingGlassTie said:

VentureForth said:

LookingGlassTie said:

Not too far from where I live.

The absence of crossing arms should not mean the absence of common sense.

Click to expand...

The video reporting said his truck got stuck and he couldn't get out. That opens up another whole line of questions...

Click to expand...

Actually it does.

Because I concede that sometimes it isn't a driver's fault that his/her vehicle gets hit by a train.

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It certainly isn't the railroad's fault in a scenario like this, either. It is, however, tragic.

LookingGlassTie said:

VentureForth said:

LookingGlassTie said:

Not too far from where I live. The absence of crossing arms should not mean the absence of common sense.

Click to expand...

The video reporting said his truck got stuck and he couldn't get out. That opens up another whole line of questions...

Click to expand...

Actually it does. Because I concede that sometimes it isn't a driver's fault that his/her vehicle gets hit by a train.

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There's always the possibility of a sudden medical problem or mechanical failure that could not have been reasonably anticipated, but what are the chances of such an event happening for the very first time at the exact instant a vehicle is passing through an active grade crossing. It's like a million to one shot. If the truck became stuck due to improper driving or insufficient surveying then that's still on the driver.

From the video report it is not clear why the driver couldn't get out. One gets the impression that there was some time between when the truck got stuck and the train came by.