Our county road and bridge crew is in process of making major improvements to an intersection that is has a railroad angling nearby. At present there are road closed signs in all directions. About a month ago the railroad completed installation of crossing arms and signals on one of the two crossings within 800 feet of the intersection. The plan is to completely remove the other crossing and construct a road adjacent to the short stretch of railroad so as to keep traffic flowing in this rural area yet be much safer with respect to possible car-train accidents. The main impetus is the construction of a new high school a quarter-mile to the west of the signalized crossing.
Yesterday morning, I learned there had be a fatal accident at the signalized crossing inside the "road closed" area. My first thought was "How?"
Two druggie idiots had gone around the barricades and pulled up onto the track at the crossing to cook up some meth in their pickup. An approaching train set off the crossing signals and arms, coming down right on the pickup that never moved, then hit it and the two passengers. The emergency crews arriving at 2:00 a.m. couldn't believe what they saw. They found the pickup a few hundred feet from the crossing, demolished, with a dead guy inside. To facilitate the clean up they brought in a large set of portable lights. Only then did they discover the other guy, still unconscious and severely injured.
To make the rest of us look smart by comparison? A very valuable public service.....
This time the "train wreck" was a public service.
A few years ago, when I was employed by a road construction firm, we had a bridge replacement job. The county road was closed with more than enough signs and warning at each (section corners) intersection both directions from the project.
Once the old bridge was removed (dirt work in the channel) the crews would park ALL of their heavy equipment on either side of the creek at night to insure that no one could possibly get a vehicle close enough to the creek to actually drive over the edge. It was a good 25 or 30 foot drop.
Sure enough, one Monday morning the guys found a very tore up pickup with a very dead driver at the bottom. They then realized he had somehow started two pieces of equipment, a dozer and a trackhoe, and then moved them out of the way so he COULD drive to his death.
Some people are just real determined to take themselves out of this world.
A case of terminal stupidity.
Darwin Award time! Time for some of the idiots to stop swimming in the gene pool...
Your avatar shows a gap in the gene pool - oh nevermind.
Quite correct and I bet one of them drowns . 😛
