NEWS: Amtrak Acela Express Train Collides With Car

An Amtrak Acela express train traveling from Boston to New York collided with a car at a Connecticut railroad crossing. Apparently no one on the train was seriously injured, but there are no reports on the occupants of the car. The Acela train has been plagued with problems since its inception and only recently came back into service after being offline for months due to repairs.



It looks like this could have been much worse, but the early details are still sketchy. I'm not sure exactly what happened.

Originally posted by djohnsto77

It looks like this could have been much worse, but the early details are still sketchy. I'm not sure exactly what happened.

No not really DJ. When a train hits a car, it has roughly the same impact as a car running over a soft drink can.

Still not a good thing and it goes to show us we should pay more attention when around railroad tracks. It is kind of scary knowing that we are 40 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision with another motor vehicle.

Doesn't sound good for the people in the car...

Video taken from a television helicopter shows the engine of the train resting on wreckage of a white car along the tracks about 100 yards south of the Miner Lane crossing.
www.thebostonchannel.com...

All the Acelas had been grounded at one time or another this summer to fix a problem with cracked brake rotors.

WINS News

Two occupants in the car are dead. One adult, one child. Another child was in the car and is now in the hospital with serious injuries.

I grew up around trains, my grandmothers house was right (and I mean literally right) beside the railroad tracks and my father and a good number of my relatives worked for Norfolk and Western...I was rasied to be careful around tracks. I feel sorry for the children involved and hope and pray the one recovers, but a person who tries to beat a train, simply put deserves what happens. It is bloody stupid. If the car stalled and they saw the train was coming they should have just got out and left the car...better on foot than dead, a car can be replaced. Its sad but when push comes to shove, when car meets train, its usually the drivers fault. For all its failings Amtrak shouldn't be blamed for these types of accidents.

Hmm... I see what you're saying.

I've always wondered about that.

1) The crossing always gives ample warning when a train is coming.
2) If for some reason you are on there too late, trains are hardly quiet, why did they stay??

Originally posted by shots

Originally posted by djohnsto77

It looks like this could have been much worse, but the early details are still sketchy. I'm not sure exactly what happened.

No not really DJ. When a train hits a car, it has roughly the same impact as a car running over a soft drink can.

Still not a good thing and it goes to show us we should pay more attention when around railroad tracks. It is kind of scary knowing that we are 40 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision with another motor vehicle.

The train doesnt always win, sometimes its a draw

news.bbc.co.uk...

Here's a picture:



Looks like the train definitely won that match!

Two dead and one seriously injured in the car. The car may have been trying to run the signals to beat the train.

Im starting to think maybe we should be importing some of your trains then...

Some poeple are just plain stupid. (NO implication regarding the victims of this particular crash.)

I live near a busy crossing that is shared by Amtrak, some freight traffic, and the San Diego Trolley.

There is a traffic light just past the tracks, and I am constantly seeing people stop with their cars completely across the tracks! If a train came while they were parked across the tracks, they'd better hope that the cars in front of them (at the light) would be able to move quickly enough so that they could get off of the tracks.

NEVER stop with any part of your vehicle over a track! If there is a stop light ahead, or slow traffic, use common sense, and do not start across the tracks until there is room for your vehicle on the other side!

WHAT are these people thinking when they do this?