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The NTSB will sort all this out and we'll get the full final report several weeks from now. But the woman was told by the witness to back up. She did not heed his warnings and the rest is history
Officials corrected themselves that it was a Mercedes SUV, not a Jeep. Also, they say the woman saw the train coming the whole way
Quote:
He said that the woman instead drove forward, only to find herself stuck on the tracks.
Mr. Cuomo said it could not have been in a worse place. “That S.U.V. was right in the middle of the track and was hit directly in the middle of the car by the train,” he said. While the investigation was in its early stages, one person briefed on the matter said that it appeared that the woman was outside her car frantically waving at the train to stop at the time of the crash.
The train pushed the S.U.V., which M.T.A. officials first said was a Jeep Cherokee, about 400 feet, the governor said. “And 400 feet down, it was still on the middle of the track,” Mr. Cuomo said. “It wrapped around the train and exploded.” It also caused the electrified third rail to tear from the tracks and rip through the first car in the train. “This was as gruesome as I have seen,” Mr. Cuomo said.
That makes even less sense. If she was outside of the car waving at the train to stop (as if--that alone doesn't sound too bright), why didn't she just get out of the way?????
And that conflicts with that guy Hope who said she got back in and drove forward.
I guess, as you said, we'll learn more when the investigation is finished.
That makes even less sense. If she was outside of the car waving at the train to stop (as if--that alone doesn't sound too bright), why didn't she just get out of the way?????
And that conflicts with that guy Hope who said she got back in and drove forward.
I guess, as you said, we'll learn more when the investigation is finished.
Well, after she got out of the car just short of the tracks she probably saw the train coming and started freaking out. The witness waved at her to go backwards but seems like she panicked and went forward but got stuck smack in the middle of the tracks
Well, after she got out of the car just short of the tracks she probably saw the train coming and started freaking out. The witness waved at her to go backwards but seems like she panicked and went forward but got stuck smack in the middle of the tracks
OH, OK, I read it as she was outside of the car waving at the train when she got hit.
after my access a ride cab didn't show up, it was nearly impossible to get a livery cab this afternoon to go home from work. i called several cab companies and all did not have a car available until i got lucky at about 3:30 and got one finally?
did this accident have anything to do with difficulty getting a cab? my cab driver didn't think so but the agent at access a ride thinks it did
What is certain is that she wasn't paying attention to the flashing warning lights when entering railroad crossing.
I've noticed a lot of bad drivers have tunnel vision, they can only see a tiny area of focus in front of them while driving and not look around up and down when they're driving.
Which is why driving test should test people with video games, see how quickly someone's eyes can react to things popping out of nowhere and what their reaction times are. Since we don't we have a lot of darwin awards to be handed out each day.
What is certain is that she wasn't paying attention to the flashing warning lights when entering railroad crossing.
People have hinted there was a lot of traffic crossing the rail road, her car most likely was already inside the crossing before the flashing warning lights came on. She reacted poorly to the situation given she first thought she was in a safe zone as her car was not directly on top of the tracks, but later question it due to her wanting to clear the car from the area at the last minute.
The person who told her to reverse the car should have probably insisted she protected herself first by evacuating the danger zone. However I am not sure what criminal charges she would face for abandoning the car. I am sure in her mind she panic not wanting to cause a accident otherwise it difficult to explain why else she wouldn't just walk away.
i didnt realize it happened yesterday evening. but is it possible the difficulty getting a cab was related anyway?
this reminds me of a tragic accident that happened when i was a youth. On March 24th 1972 a freight train rammed a school bus full of high school students in Valley Cottage NY (known as the Gilchrist Crossing tragedy). the driver, a NY City fireman, stopped in the middle of the tracks (no gates at the time) and may have been impaired. the train was traveling at 70 mph and could only slow down to 30 mph when it hit the bus. the bus was dragged parallel to the tracks and several students fell between the fractured sections of the bus onto the tracks. 5 students died and many more were injured. at the trial the driver claimed he didn't hear the approaching train horn
this was the tragedy that mandated gates at railroad crossings and seat belts on buses among others
People have hinted there was a lot of traffic crossing the rail road, her car most likely was already inside the crossing before the flashing warning lights came on. She reacted poorly to the situation given she first thought she was in a safe zone as her car was not directly on top of the tracks, but later question it due to her wanting to clear the car from the area at the last minute.
The person who told her to reverse the car should have probably insisted she protected herself first by evacuating the danger zone. However I am not sure what criminal charges she would face for abandoning the car. I am sure in her mind she panic not wanting to cause a accident otherwise it difficult to explain why else she wouldn't just walk away.
Actually, that is entirely feasible. If traffic was backed up she might have sat on the tracks unable to move forward while she waited for it to clear ahead of her. The crossing gates came down and she was trapped.
I would try to crash through the gates if I could. Better to be on the hook for new gates than burn to death. Hindsight is 20/20 though and its easy for us to speculate on what someone should have done.
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