Huge train crash caused by dumbass driver

[Hygro]

People like the driver make me so angry. Utterly useless humans who don't take care of their inabilities to function in high stress situations. "Oh no my dopamine spiked higher than I'm used to!" play some goddamn video games! "I can't handle the cortisol!" play more goddamn video games! "Too much norepinephrine to think straight!" play higher stakes video games!

Yeah, I like to think I'd handle myself well in an emergency but don't know for sure.

Chances are you'd be good in an emergency. You got that personality I think.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

People like the driver make me so angry. Utterly useless humans who don't take care of their inabilities to function in high stress situations. "Oh no my dopamine spiked higher than I'm used to!" play some goddamn video games! "I can't handle the cortisol!" play more goddamn video games! "Too much norepinephrine to think straight!" play higher stakes video games!


Chances are you'd be good in an emergency. You got that personality I think.

Well, he is posting on a game forum, and you have made a pretty good case that ability to function under stress is well promoted by playing video games...

 

[Zelig]

People like the driver make me so angry. Utterly useless humans who don't take care of their inabilities to function in high stress situations. "Oh no my dopamine spiked higher than I'm used to!" play some goddamn video games! "I can't handle the cortisol!" play more goddamn video games! "Too much norepinephrine to think straight!" play higher stakes video games!

Or snowboard. Snowboarding has quashed any instinctive reaction I used to have to either speed or heights.

Now even in at-speed out-of-control situations I'm pretty much dead-calm, which is an odd feeling, since other than fairly minor adjustments, time passes slowly while you wait for a crash or recovery.

I drove this road during a near-whiteout last winter and my passenger was nearly flipping out the entire time. Driving up next week and hoping it's a bit nicer so I can at least see some of the scenery.

 

[timtofly]

Are we claiming that she was proficient in playing Grand Theft Auto?

I make fun of other people's road rage, but I have to confess, I can be cold and calculating when bitten by road rage myself. That does not come from playing video games. That comes from driving for 25 years and logging over 300,000 miles. I am not under any influence of drugs. It is just the learned response of the chemical reactions that happens in my brain when I am behind the wheel.

 

[Narz]

Chances are you'd be good in an emergency. You got that personality I think.

I actually tend to be calmer in emergencies & I'm often thinking about them & my own mortality.

Funny thing, I broke up a fight a couple days ago, first physical fight I've seen in front of me in probably a decade. Two cab drivers, I missed the beginning but one guy, the fat one, got out & opened & slammed the other guy's (little guy) door. The little guy immediately got out of the car, started cursing & ran at him throwing fists, which was pretty impressive considered the other guy probably had 80 pounds on him & a few inches in height. The fat guy parried the wild punches & started hitting back, barely connecting but the little guy caught one on the chin & the fat guy backed him up against a truck while the little guy was throwing his arms around to get him off as best he could. The fat guy now had his palm around the little guy's face & was smushing him against the back of a truck (on the side of the road). Some woman shrieked at them to stop fighting & I just walked up & said "Stop" & kind of pulled at the fat guy's arms. I wasn't really worryed about myself, they seemed to vehemently hate each other. They broke it up, swore at each other, kicked each other's cabs & they were off. Some Asian shopowner/worker was calling the cops saying two cabbies were going up 6th Ave "chasing each other" (which they didn't seem to be doing). Very surreal. It's amazing how bad average people are at fighting.

I also felt supremely calm after I totaled my car. Actually one of the most relaxed moments in my whole adult life. I remember just thinking, "Ok, that happened & immediately started planning my life without the car" while I sat on my hood & assessed the situation.

Of course that's different than an ongoing crisis. I doubt I'm be a hero but I'd probably do pretty well at staying out of the way or performing simple tasks to remedy the situation.

I'm very distracted in everyday life (hence 20k posts) but in a crisis I'm able to turn off the usual mental chatter.

 

[Quintillus]

If the scenario the news is reporting is true, the actions of this driver are chilling. Her vehicle was on one track but not on the one the train was travelling. She then got into her vehicle and drove it onto the other track. It would seem that some one thinking correctly would just leave the vehicle, not try to move it after getting out. Now she may have thought that the train was travelling down the track she was on, and getting to the next one may have helped, but attempting to do anything other than removing herself from the situation was unwise. Backing up would have been smarter though. However once out of the vehicle she should have stayed out. If she had of, the train may have not even hit the vehicle. IMO, any one who gets back into a vehicle when they know a train is approaching is clearly not thinking about themselves, but the vehicle they are about to lose.

The reason that this turned out so bad, is that the vehicle somehow acted as a lever that allowed the middle third rail that carried electricity to buckle and impale the first and second cars, sending electricity into those cars, and starting them on fire.

You're right - it does appear that she got back in the car and was able to move it during the whole situation. When I first saw this, I thought maybe the vehicle had died on the tracks and wouldn't move, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Having attended a school that was right next to a railroad grade crossing, one of the things they always mentioned at the railroad-safety assemblies was that if your car died on the tracks, or was boxed in, abandon the car and make sure you're out of harms way. And if it was mobile and there was enough time to get it out of the way, get it off the tracks, even if you're off the side of the road afterwards. Of course, it's much better to always make sure you can get off the tracks before crossing them, which is what I always do these days (and I do have a grade crossing most days).

This is essentially a textbook example of not what to do at a railroad crossing, and with tragic results.

 

[tetley]

Also if you run your car into a lake (with you in it), immediately roll down your windows. Shatter them if necessary. You can't open the car door with the windows up--the water pressure is just too much.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Also if you run your car into a lake (with you in it), immediately roll down your windows. Shatter them if necessary. You can't open the car door with the windows up--the water pressure is just too much.

Good advice, but add forget the door altogether and go out the window. Generally that is quicker.

 

[Harv]

Its possible she was just confused.

We can do some pretty stupid things when we confused.

Were the railroad crossing lights and guard the only signals being used - or were there other signals involved?

Nonetheless, you'd think if you hear/see a train bearing down on you at 60mph pure terror would take over & you'd either abandon the car or floor it. From what I've read the railroad crossings are built to break easily in case you get stuck between them.

The question is if confronted with a life and death situation like that, does the person in question think rationally or just freeze?

Life has taught me that some people are no good in an emergency. This lady seems to have been one of those.

I don't know if this is the same situation, but:

Where I am, emergency vehicles can override the traffic signals to give them green lights. There is a white light (EVP) on top of the signal to indicate that an emergency vehicle is overriding the normal cycle. Apparently light rail trains use the same system.

In my humble, moronic opinion, this would be perfect if this was timed well. The EVP light starts flashing. The signal light turns Amber. The rail lights go on and the rail crossing guards go down, all within a few seconds.

When a whole bunch of time elapses, it is very confusing. It is also very confusing if I am not from the area I am living and not familiar with this particular city and tend to avoid it whenever possible. It does not help when borderline lost.

The EVP light starts flashing. Okay. Look around for the emergency vehicle. No emergency vehicle. Traffic is still moving. Big intersection. Strange. Almost at intersection. Amber light. Gotta stop. Where is that emergency vehicle? No emergency vehicle. Look! Train coming and I am on the tracks! Hit reverse. Look behind. Cars all over and the rail guards are coming down. Hit neutral. Hit gas. VROOM! Oops. Drive. Okay. Get between the tracks and the cross-traffic street. Train passes behind. Light changes. Check pulse.

So a few people got their amusement. Just be glad you are reading a story like this at the bottom of a thread like this and not on a new News Thread. Just be glad you are reading about a living idiot than a dead one. I'm just glad to be a living idiot.

EDIT: So ya. I can understand that disorientation can really mess with the head and how somebody can make some really dumb decisions when disoriented.

 

[kramerfan86]

People like the driver make me so angry. Utterly useless humans who don't take care of their inabilities to function in high stress situations. "Oh no my dopamine spiked higher than I'm used to!" play some goddamn video games! "I can't handle the cortisol!" play more goddamn video games! "Too much norepinephrine to think straight!" play higher stakes video games!

Yea whether it was stupidity or suicide this idiot got 6 other innocent people killed. Absolutely disgusting.