He must have seriously misjudged the trains speed if he hit the fourth car in. He was probably texting and didn't even see it until it was too late.

OR a stupid idiot that wished to commit suicide by train without regard for the lives of others.

Or the trucks breaks failed/were over heated and he couldn't stop....or because of the high demand of truckers, he fell asleep. Just thinking outside the box.

The most likely answer is falling asleep. I live in Fallon and every emergency vehicle, including the Navy's responded to this emergency. We are a trucking and warehouse center, and because of the low pay, truckers are always pushing themselves to get more miles per day. It's really sad, most of these guys barely make a living. Not long ago a trucker was killed when he fell asleep and ran off the road and through a fortunately vacant house. A few years ago a sleeping driver went off of 80 west bound onto the lower elevation east bound lane and killed a father and two teen age boys; to the idiot bigot who wanted to bet that the driver was an illegal immigrant, I don't know about today's incident, but in the other two mentioned accidents, the trucks were not driven by immigrants, either legal or illegal. What in the world is the matter with people out there anyway? We are a nation of immigrants who hate immigrants. Unless you'er a native American, your ancestors were immigrants! And before you decide to accuse ME of being an 'immigrant'-yes I am. My ancestors came over 1680!

Gee, every one has the reason...It should be considered that the driver was out, either asleep, unconscious or dead.

He didn't hit the 4th car.. it was one of the cars that caught fire.. Quit guessing people.. they will tell you more when they know more..

Just be grateful that so many lived...

Probably an accident. These things do happen. Accidents, I mean.

Trucking used to be a great way for hard working, decent men and women to make a proud living. The last time the price of gas spiked enormously (remember when it was $2 a gallon - around here it's cheap if it's $4.15) drivers were forced to swallow the increase. Well, if your take for a run is $500 or $600 and the price of fuel has increased by $300, then your pay has just been reduced by half at best. Trucking was one of the last great ways for independent people to make a living while also experiencing all of the weird, wacky and lovely places and people along the way. I don't believe for a second that terrorism had anything to do with this accident. It is far more likely that an exhausted driver fell asleep or became fatally inattentive. R.I.P.

could have been several reasons, the driver might have nodded off for a few seconds, been look at something other than the road with the radio loud, brakes, texting... tons of things. maybe the guy was having a heart attack? who knows. wondering if there were skid marks. i doubt however he was trying to beat the train...usually those road stops come down with plenty of time to stop, he would have had to see those before even attempting to cross.

I read all these assumptions on the cause of the truck hitting the train and why? he wasn't trying to beat the train, when a truck is trying to beat the train, the train hits the truck not the truck hitting the train. I read heartattack, truck drivers take physicals every year and while it is not impossible it is most improbable, texing and talking on the phone seem illogical when driving a truck it is not the same as driving a car, your attention is needed a lot more and so texing is out, he could have been talking on the phone but like I said it is pretty demanding to drive a truck. Suicide come on, nobody is going to run a truck into a train to kill themselves. But really people are we setting up a pot and betting on the cause? The DOT will do their investigation and try and determine the cause but it won't change the out come to this accident so why make stupid assumptions, if that is all you have to comment on then save it.

I was on that same train (California Zephyr) in Illinois when someone tried to beat it at the intersection and lost. Needless to say they didn't make it. Train slammed on its brakes for a full mile before it could stop. NEVER gamble with a train, you will ALWAYS lose!!

ohjoy-2623976: Your sentiments and speculation are indeed mine as well. I consider "truck drivers" highest, on the list of Americas unsung heros. Thank you

Maybe it was a terrorist attack. They did say they planned to target the railroads so maybe this was a trial run.

So where do you stand if it was an non Mexican immigrant that died of a heart attack brought on by eating too much American fast food?

Hey if you're going to speculate at least make it a good story.

So where do you stand if it was an non Mexican immigrant that died of a heart attack brought on by eating too much American fast food?

Yeah because cheese enchiladas and beef burritos slopped with sour cream are such healthy better choices (yum, by the way).

OhJoy-2623976 Post 1.9 I appreciate your post. I would encourage you to write a long article on the "History of Trucking In America." Most Americans have no clue to how important it is to our economy. The one-man, or husband and wife trucking team has been a constant in America for a long time; a true way of life. In all types of weather they may be the only people on the highways, every mile is money. As a young man I would hitch a ride; frequently they would gear those rigs down and give me one. That is a lot of down-shifting, a mess of gears to slow a big rig down. The stories they have of life on the road would beat Jack Kerouac.

I tip my hat to Farmerjeani. America needs more sensible people like Farmerjeani and much much less ignorant bigots.

Back in the late 60's (when drivers were rumored to pop the "little white pills" to stay awake), I went with my Dad to investigate the wreck of one of his semis. The driver had hit an elephant that escaped from a local zoo...No skid marks at all. Dad pulled the driver aside and asked him "Didn't you even SEE that elephant?!" Driver's response: "Sure! But who would have thought it was REAL??"

Long-distance trucking uses tons of fuel; trains used to pull more of America's freight (when we were a nation that exported everything from wheat to manufactured items). I am all for the truckers who carry all of our goods, but they can pick up the goods at train depots, and carry them locally. They cost millions (or more) in the destruction of highways and roads; railroad companies pay for their own tracks, but you, the taxpayer pay for the wear and tear caused by heavy trucks. If we paid the difference in shipping costs, it would save millions in the costs of highway repairs. Truck drivers falling asleep is not news. Trains used to require more than one engineer, but trucks are only one person per truck. I can't believe that so many people immediately defend the trucker who died and took others with him.

In the words of an American Hero:

Daughter: Daddy do you realize that 1 million people die a year because of gun related actions.

Archie, Would it make you feel any better if they were pushed out windows?

It appears tha yes, people would prefer they were pushed out windows. People die and all that can be thought of is ...assign blame. The dead people do not care why they were hit or died. The dead only know they are dead.

hadEnough- It isn't just elephants. You never find skid marks when a lawyer has been hit either.

Elizabeth You need to go back and get your facts straight. Trucks pay their fair share of road use taxes which is supposed to pay for road damage etc. Where as the rail roads get all kinds of grants and subsidies that they don't pay back. Those monies come out of your tax revenue.

ernie,

railroads have had those rights of ways since the railroads existed. And railroads must pay to maintain those tracks, even though they don't have other users subsidizing that repair. And federal regulations require that they keep rail lines active even if there is no one using them. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Wrong!!! The railroad hasn't turned a profit in years.It is govt. subsidised and is just starting to make a come back but isn't there yet.And passenger service is the least profitable run on the rails.

ernie,

amtrak doesn't own the trackage, it leases rights of way from the freight railroad companies. The freight companies on the other hand are fairly profitable.

"I thought I was sleeping but I said this isn't a dream," he said. "I was scared. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the scariest), this was an 11."

he also went on to add...

" i pooped"

Who was it that deregulated the trucking industry?

Fourth car back is probably only 3 seconds back providing there was only one engine. I agree with everyone saying he was probably asleep but it is not as much reaction time as some would think.

Thank God the trailers where empty!

Cerebrally Superior you sound like a bigot---maybe you are not but you sound like a bigot.

I don't pretend to know what the truck driver was thinking but I drive I80 daily and I can say in my experience trucks will run you off the road, refuse to mover at on ramps even when you can plainly see the lane is empty, force you off the road at ramps, block all lanes to prevent being passed, run right up on your bumper rather than pass just to try and scare you.

NOT ALL are like this generally it is those who are not working for a company. Often their cabs are painted to look intimidating.

I have the police on speed dial and have no problems reporting dangerous drivers. I have also called 1-800- hows my driving numbers.

So many douchie idiot comments by people who didn't even read the article or have a grasp of the speeds involved.

"Skid marks on the road were 320 feet long..." Driver not unconscious or trying to ram the train.

Hitting the fourth car or the first, or being hit by the train instead of hitting it are differences of milliseconds. The train was moving at 78 mph, the truck probably near that as well. There was no aiming involved with 2 intersecting objects traveling at those speeds. The train will have a video and data recorder system that will tell the tale.

Most likely the driver saw the train coming and tried to beat it. This may have seemed reasonable at first, but once the speed of the train was realized, the driver tried to stop and likely had an issue with his brakes that may have been hidden until he tried a maximum application emergency stop.

At that point too late to do anything except pray.

I hope the missing 28 are merely heading home with other transpo and not burned up in the wreckage. If they are and the truck had a preventable maintenance issue that company just went out of business, which is exactly what should happen to a trucking company that doesn't take safety seriously.

What about the guy texting while driving ??

In europe texting or talking on the phone while driving is strickly forbitten. You can get a 500 euros fine if you get caught.

This would be a good lesson for america... endangering other's lives is criminal. Stay off your damn phones !

Skid marks on the road were 320 feet long, Weener said.

Ok how does that reconcile with these"witnesses" claiming the truck didn't try to stop?

BTW, you'all need to STFU with omg he was texting, or he had a heart attack. None of you have a clue. How bout we let them do their investigation, THEN you can jump on whatever band-wagon is currently popular.

Cerebrally superior, I am glad you think you are because your comment proves otherwise.

It takes me 320ft to stop my Chevy Tahoe.

Biker4life has some valid points.

As a driver of LCV ( long combination vehicles) Triples, Rocky Mountain Doubles, ect. 320 feet of skid marks is a lot but it takes over 300 feet to stop a semi loaded to 80,000 pounds with one trailer. Also empty trailers tend to slide rather than grip. His set was probably between 45 and 60,000 pounds empty, if he had doubles. Pumping his brakes would have helped to stop rather than skid but that's hard to do when you see a crash coming. I would like to think I'd have tried to turn away but who knows for certain what we would do in that situation. May God be with the families of all those killed or injured. And may the investigators be fair and keep their eyes open to all possibilities for every ones sake.

Interesting hypothesis once the driver is identified.

If Bush were still in office, they would have had that exact theory and then Fox News would broadcast it a the top of the news 24/7 with full analysis and interviews to follow. And of course the resulting analysis of baseless assumptions would blame the Democrats for being weak on anti-terrorist train safety.

Please! Terrorists in Trinity, Nevada? You would have to really try to find a smaller target to "attack". I find it hard to believe that of all the places to pick to terrorize, any organization would pick an Amtrak train 3 miles off the freeway from Trinity, Nevada! Are we all losing our sense of perspective over EVERYTHING?

In a word.....YES!

@ themare52

JD is simply making a sarcastic reference (so it seems) to all of the "terrorist" fear mongering that has been going on over the last decade or so by the MSM and our government!

themare:

yeah well being in nevada, it is clearly critical to the survival of the united states. It's time to nuke dhurka dhurkastan to deal with these terrorists.

DISCLAIMER: This comment CLEARLY meant to be sarcasm, for those that are sarcasm detection challenged.

Well, I suppose it's possible, but not very probable. More than likely asleep at the wheel or traveling too fast to get stopped. If this was a large gravel truck as someone has suggested, these can carry some huge weight and when going fast, they don't tend to stop very well.

@garrick

Still Bush bashing. The guy is out of Office how long? Maybe you need to start blaming your boy Obama.

And newsflash-not all Republicans watch or believe Fox and their BS. This is why Dems are behind everywhere. They're still living in the past. Next you can blame Reagan.

Garrick you are a idiot, if all you have to say is on putting President Bush down then either save your effort or be fair and include this idiot president we have now. bama will now go down as being the worst president which puts carter at number 2 since he held first place.

bliggs & all: I do understand that there is a strong thread of sarcasm running through some of these remarks, and I really didn't intend to display my impaired sarcasm detection. But Lordy! Some days it's real hard to sort the well meaning comments of some people as opposed to the out right ignorance of other people! There are times when I think I can't listen to another word of the scare mongers! So, my apologies to those who are thinking with a sane turn of the brain. To the others: Even if it is sarcasm, where did you come up with the idea to blame Reagan, Obama, Bush, Fox News, etc. for this accident? You forgot Caligula, Hitler, and Mussolini! One makes as much sense to me as the other! Please, do not jump me for using the phrase Lordy! I meant to make absolutely no reference to the deities or religion or provoke comments from the religious arena!

themare:

It's Caligula's fault. Lets bring the Roman bastard to justice NOW!!!

DISCLAMER: THIS COMMENT INTENDED TO BE SARCASM

(Warning for those that are sarcasm detection handicapped)

Still Bush bashing. The guy is out of Office how long? Maybe you need to start blaming your boy Obama.

the conservatives did it to Clinton for six, anything went wrong, it was clinton's fault

I for one will be Bush bashing for the rest for the rest of my life!!!!

wouldn't that be bush wacking?

Virginia,

I used to think that Ronald Reagan was akin to Satansent to destroy my life (recession on the early to mid-Eighties). Eight years of GW taught me that Reagan wasn't so bad. I had better things to do. And Bush twacking was really just too easy.

Bill Marvell

Actually Cheney is the embodiment of evil.

Jonathan,

Good one... Thanks

I think it was either the Visigoths or the Druids. The only logical conclusions here. Or Fozzy Bear.

I have to laugh at all these posts. A truck and train collide and it turns into political rants.

it was obviously Cleopatra

Obviously, people aren't serious. Truckers fall asleep because the real terrorists are the politicians who have torn up track over the years. They do not use freight trains but long-distance trucks which have only one driver per truck.

LOL @ bill

By Liberal thought the recession Reagan saved us from was obviously caused by Carter. The fact it took Reagan 6 years to save us is just a testament to his strength and penis size.

Maroons

"I for one will be Bush bashing for the rest for the rest of my life!!!!"

Well....enjoy!

I really don't know how anyone can blame a president for this, I think the comment about fozzy bear was as close to the truth as blaming an ex-president

Did anyone else see the new Spielburg film "Super 8"?

I'm not here to plug it, but it was fantastic. Anyone who's seen it would get the comparison. If this train is anything like the one in the movie they're in for some trouble...

Just saw it: An Roger that.

I was wondering how long it would take some moron(s) to turn a tragic accident into some political statement. Contrats., your pathetic ignorance didn't disappoint.

By Liberal thought the recession Reagan saved us from was obviously caused by Carter. The fact it took Reagan 6 years to save us is just a testament to his strength and penis size.

@Mark: The economic data during Regan's tenure (minus the first two years during the recovery) says that either you are intentionally lying about his entire 8 year administration's accomplishments after that DISASTER known as Carter, or that you are ignorant of the facts. Which is it, liberal mouth breather?

By the way - what's up with you mindless emotion-driven liberals and penis infatuation anyway? Your boy hero Weiner for example...

JONATHAN Isn't (Bush Wacking) something he should be doing in the privacy of his home?

Ernie,

That would be Bush Wanking.

Blame it on Bush; blame it on Clinton; blame it on Obama; blame it on Regan. I always love everyone bashing the president. You do realize though that the president is in the executive branch of the government and doesn't write the laws? Congress (legislative branch) writes the laws and can override a presidential veto if enough of them want to. If we are going to blame folks let's put the blame where it belongs, on congress! We need term limits and the president needs line item veto authority to remove anything, especially earmarks, that have nothing directly to do with bills that cross his desk. We won't get either one any time soon because congress would have to write it and most of them don't want anything that might cut into their privileges.

Save the United States. Vote a congressman out of office!

tiredofhypocrites, Bush and Cheney were the great facilitators of the crime. They basically tied our hands and feet and let their friends rape us. Maybe you enjoyed it but I certainly didn't. The people pelting Bush's inaugural limo with eggs knew what he was going to do and so did I. The question is why didn't you?

Marinmom, I didn't say Bush and Cheney did or didn't do anything. All I said is that is that presidents don't write (or amend) the bills. That's congress's job. Presidents can only sign what congress gives them.

I would also like to point out that presidents do have term limits; congress doesn't.

@Mark: The economic data during Regan's tenure (minus the first two years during the recovery)

@ tentacle, would that be something like the first two years trying to recover from the economic disaster of our last president?

amazing how single-minded some people are, you give Reagan a pass for the first two years recovering from an economic disaster, yet refuse to give a single week for an opposing party member time to recover from the economic disaster created by one of your own

Was thinking the same thing. It's not like the train was behind trees or something, they were in the Nevada desert. The driver would have been able to see the train a half mile from the crossing at least - unless this is some freak accident and the driver was asleep or had a heart attack.

Probably should reserve judgement on this one. If someone wanted to derail a train and they had access to a semi, they should've had better luck. This is probably just an accident.

This is probably just an accident.

I agree. Though I admit to first thinking that it was an act of terrorism (semi-trucks don't hit trains often). Am I programmed or what?

I grew up in a small town outside of Columbus OH. The main line that ran through OH east and west went through our town. It was double tracked with trains running 60-70MPH with lights and gates at all 3 crossings. People drove around the gates and got hit all the time. On guy, thank you Darwin, drove around the gate got hit by an eastbound train and seconds later by a westbound train. I can see someone not see a train!

Well I have been in this area a few times in my lifetime, and I can say with almost certainty that this trucker saw this train about a mile and half out, started jamming gears to pick up speed to beat the train over the crossing. When he got to the final leg of his race against the train realized that he was not going to make it, I would be willing to bet that there was at least 50' worth of rubber left on the hwy by the truck prior to impact. This is just another reason why Amtrak has not been real successful west of the Rockies. My prayers go to the victims and their families.

Drugs. Alcohol. Cell phone.

ZZZs most likely. Even texters glance up once in while.

"This is just another reason why Amtrak has not been real successful west of the Rockies. My prayers go to the victims and their families."

Your reasoning makes less than zero sense. According to your statement, part of the reason Amtrak has not been real successful west of the Rockies is because ''truckers'' speed to beat trains over crossings? Maybe you just forgot something...or maybe you were trying to hard to bash truck drivers and you realized you needed to wrap it up, leaving out important information leading up to your ''fact''. Either way, just stop talking.

Trains hit trucks... happens all the time. When was the last time a truck hit a train? Yeah, it stinks.

"Trains hit trucks... happens all the time." I agree with your statement but I don't think you even cared to read the article or at least listen to the video. The truck hit the train...not the other way round.

CMcrary,

I can see rushing to avoid a freight train which are generally slower moving and much much longer (miles long depending on the region), but a passenger train? That just doesn't make sense. If the driver saw it miles away; which is likely; he would have seen that it was a short passenger train.

More likely the driver fell asleep.

Radagast

If you really want to derail a train, much better to go after the track, especially in an isolated area like this.

Idiots,

I agree, this has nothing to do with Amtrak. The reason why Amtrak is not successful has to do with traffic density.

Overall, this sounds like it might be time to get rid of railway crossings. Nice infrastructure project for stimulus funds if you ask me.

@Idiotsaboveme And your telling ME to read correctly? Sounds like u need to change your name to Idiotswithinme.

Texting or on the phone I bet. Most certain my cousin trooper Lopez will find out.

Using a semi to derail a train in the middle of the desert just doesn't make sense. It would be so much easier to remove or loosen a rail. Or just set a contact charge.

Who would see this in the middle of nowhere. Terrorism just doesn't make sense.

CMcCrary,

Yes, get rid of the crossings. But no need to build highway overpasses, just close the roads. How many people are served? How much further would they have to travel? What business located here and why? But profits from a good government road?

I'm not attacking this area, Nevada, the West, or anywhere in the US. But we ought to start seeing that many thing we have come to expect cost everyone money. And before everyone says close the railroads, Double the price of virtually every Walmart product, unless you live on the West Coast.

Semi rig's can't see!. that's how!?!.

It is all too likely that the truck driver fell asleep. The hours truck drivers have to drive to put gas in the truck, buy food, and pay rent are brutal (and remember that it's not like driving a car -- it's a lot of work to drive a big rig, full or empty). It's possible that the poor man driving the truck was exhausted. If it wasn't his truck (the tractor or the trailer), the brakes may have worn out months ago, but the owner didn't drive it so he didn't care.

Even with truck drivers (men & women) overtired, if I have a long drive, I still try to do it at night. I'm outside the DC area (well outside the beltway) and I prefer to drive when the other vehicles on the road are trucks. They use their signals, respond to yours, and flash their lights to thank you for letting them in or for using your signal. They understand the concept of "slower traffic, keep to the right lane" and that alone makes driving with them easier. They try to pull over to the shoulder if they feel they need a break, but sometimes they've got a deadline that isn't theirs to change.

Cars? I've gotten in between folks racing, in traffic, and no signals for lane changes, racing or not. We have a lot of road rage and most days in DC, everyone's somewhat aggressive. (If you aren't a bit pushy, you'll sit at the same light for an hour while people cut you off.) The single nicest thing about being retired is not having to deal with rush hour.

Getting a license to drive a semi in interstate commerce isn't real easy, and if the person taking the test has no documentation, the state (any state) won't let that person into the testing area. Even though truckers don't make much money, they make a lot more than an illegal immigrant; an illegal makes so much more in the US than he or she did at home, it's worth coming to the US and giving it a try. Stop picking on poor folks!

ciara, yeah the so called over regulated transportation methods have very strict limits on how much time you can be in control of the vehicle. So the trucking industry gets more work, and usually has to absorb the costs of increases like fuel prices.

ciara3653653

Even though truckers don't make much money

Please define not much money.

I have driven truck for the last 18 years and currently I am an owner operator and I easily make over $100K a year. Now I will admit that not every owner operator makes the money that I do but I am not an exception, $85-125K is not unusual at all.

On the company driver side a veteran driver can get between $0.40-$0.48 per mile, if you are logging 2500mi a week that means you could make $1000 to $1200 a week, so better than $50,000 a year. Not bad for an occupation that you do not even need a high school diploma to get into.

@ Bill Marvell

I hope that it's sarcasm that inspired your comment; but if not, speaking of doubling prices of all Walmart products for everyone except for those on the west coast if we close the railroads, and that closing the roads is the better solution, do you know what businesses are in that particular area and provide products that are shipped to places all over the US both by rail and by Trucking?

Check out Fernley NV, look on a map and compare it to the location of the roads your proposing that be closed, because they don't serve many people or businesses..... Distribution centers for Amazon.com, Agru America, MSC Industrial Direct, Allied Signal, UPS Worldwide Logistics, Sherwin Williams, Honeywell, RMAX and Feldmeir all call it home.

The reason of course is that large chunks of Desert real estate to build those massive warehouses for product distribution is cheap and the tax code is business friendly.

While one may argue that it doesn't reduce the price of consumer goods because "the evil greedy corporations" simply add that saved $ to their bottom line, it would be foolish to think that closing those roads and forcing them to move elsewhere that have the roads that serve many more people and real estate prices and taxes are higher, wouldn't be passed on to consumers.

I guess we could close those "good government roads" which are maintained and paid for by the tax payers of Nevada....and not you....but then again, we'll all be paying higher prices for those very same products you mentioned. So, I guess I don't see on a fiscal level how your suggestion makes much sense for any of us.

I do recognize that your comments weren't necessarily meant as an attack on Nevada or the West for that matter; but, like it or not, comments like that do display an attitude toward those that live in a rural areas (or at least not in the same area as you) that they don't deserve to enjoy the same priveleges that you do, even though their taxes pay for it, not yours, simply because they don't live next door to you. That attitude is elitest, selfish and in my personal opinion un-educated and pathetic. That attitude only divides, it doesn't unify.

On a side note, my condolences to those impacted by this unfortunate accident.

Watch "World's Dumbest" on TruTV. You see people hit things with cars all the time that they should've been able to avoid. I saw one clip where an Oldsmobile ran into a moving train -- both couldn't have been going faster than 20 miles an hour and yet the person in the Olds didn't even tap the brakes. Fortunately since they were moving so slowly, no one was hurt. Same thing went for when the lady bus driver slammed into a light rail. She wasn't texting or anything and she went right through a red light and took the bus into the side of a quickly-moving train - no injuries aside from the thousands of dollars in damages to the vehicles. It was her 5th collision in 3 months, as I recall. Your guess is as good as mine as to why she was still being allowed to drive a city bus...

splash

the reason why the tax rates are lower is because there is nothing there. Of course the taxes in LA are going to be higher, the state and the region do a lot more there.

Now the question is, does it make sense to put a fulfillment center in the middle of nevada (and nowhere)? Possibly, it is reasonably centrally located, and close to several markets on different sides of it. In addition, how much infrastructure does a fulfillment center need.

Jonathan,

That is exactly the reason that they put it there.

Companies will always do things that are in their best interest financially. Regarding that, if we were to force them to move to LA for example, would it really save us, the consumer, any money? Or would those companies pass along the extra costs they would now have to the consumer?

We can't realistically expect them to simply eat the additional cost, because they wont, not unless they have no other choice but to do so. Companies re-locate and outsource all the time to increase their profit margin.

My point though dealt more with Bill's suggestion to close the road because after all, what businesses were there? and how many people does it serve? and so why do they need a "good government road?"

The short quick easy no BS answer is: Well, the tax payers of Nevada pay for it, and it does serve a purpose, that's why it's there.

The real question though, is why does it matter to somebody who lives so far away and has no skin in the game?

Splash,

I was being sarcastic, since an earlier Viner thought, based on one accident, that we should close all railroad crossings. The only practical way to do this would be to remove the railroads. I was pointing out how much containerized merchandise moves from the West Coast to the center of the country, and what trucking all this merchandise would cost.

We also fail to take into account cost/reward ratio of public roads. If we did, I expect we'd see either more private roads, and fewer plants or warehouses in distant undeveloped areas, just because its cheap.

@THX

She probably still has a job because of her union.........or because driving a bus is a government job in most large cities.

I drove a cattle truck for years in that area. Just so you know I do know a little about what it takes to stop a truck. Now, this truck was unloaded and hauling two gravel trailors. The article said it left over 300 feet of skid marks. How fast was this guy going? Way too fast, way over the speed limit. If you are going so fast that it takes you more than 360 feet to stop (while unloaded no less) then you really do not understand what your truck can and cannot do. This translates into a very dangerous situation that can and did get people killed. And it is important to note that the train saw the collision was imminent and engaged emergency stop procedures. This is why the train was still at the crossing. So, if the train was able to stop pretty much in a very close proximity to the tracks and weighs 100,000's of pounds more than the truck, it just goes to show something was wrong with the driver of the truck (sleep deprivation, drugs, ignorance, speed, whatever).

I thought it was a dump truck, not a semi........

You know what sounds suspicious to me? You using quotes around suspicious for no apparent reason. Also, to answer your question, "How does a semi truck not see a passenger train?" the answer is easy. Semi trucks don't have eyes. The driver on the other hand could have easily been distracted/dead. The blind semi truck mentioned above could also have malfunctioned and not allowed the truck driver to stop.

Intentional? Not ''very'' likely. (see what I did there...that's call mocking you)

Dude, you forgot your meds or something. The terrorists said they were gonna get us, and trains are on the list. Yet you act like we pulled that stuff out of our heads. It is so uncommon for a truck to hit a train, that only a idiot wouldn't give it a thought that it may have been intentional upon hearing that trains are going to be targeted. Guess you don't have the word idiot in your name for nothin.

I lived in Ames, Iowa, on the mainline of the Chicago North Western Railroad. A branchline from the south entered the mainline with a 5mph rail speed limit. A gated, flashing light controlled crossing, on a 20 mph limited street crossed the mainline about 25 yards from the junction. With nearly 100 witnesses, a man drove around the crossing gate, and into the path of a train going about 3 mph. The train cut his mini-pickup in half, just behind the cab. He claimed that he thought the gate was broken, despite the other stopped traffic. He claimed he didn't hear the clanking crossing gate *the one he drove around); this might be true, considering the engineer was laying on the 5-chime air horn. And he claimed he didn't see the train, despite the fact that CNW engines were painted BRIGHT YELLOW AND GREEN, WITH CHEVRON STRIPES FRONT AND BACK. The locomotive was the size of a 1945-50 bungalow, and he didn't see it?

People, even professional drivers, just pretend the railroad doesn't exist. Ask any railway engineer or conductor.

BTW, the train didn't stop in time because even at slow speed 500-1000 tons takes a while to stop.

"how does a truck not see a train" you ask? sadly, it happens quite frequently. many amtrak accidents are caused by trucks failing to stop, as well as cars, also. another common reason is long trucks getting hung up on raised crossings, but in those cases speed is not an issue. I have 2 1/2 years 'on the road' railroad experience and @!$%# drivers are out there everyday. I have no sympathy for them when they get smithereened by a train. in the unlikely case of a 'heart attacked' driver, then it was a most unfortunate accident.

The terrorists said they were gonna get us, and trains are on the list.

If I were a betting person I would give 1,000 to 1 odds on a million $ that terrorism had NOTHING to do with this. If it had been a terrorist act the truck would have been a fuel tanker or carrying explosives. But, the much more likely terrorist act would be to derail the train by tampering with the tracks in an area farther from major roads then shooting people as they tried to escape the cars.

The comment "trucks don't have eyes" is the whole problem. Mercedes is advertising cars that have eyes; this was developed years ago, but isn't in many cars. It should be on all trucks. The device sees a hazard, and makes the vehicle stop. If we keep putting only one driver in a truck, we need the device that will stop a truck in an emergency. But trucks should carry loads short distances; long distances cost the taxpayers too much.

When driving a CDL vehicle such as a passenger bus big dump truck or 18 wheeler rig-this thing was supposed to have been a tractor with 2 trailers- you are supposed to stop at all railroad crossings. A certain distance required between your truck and the tracks. Even if there is no train there. Whether there is a signal at the grade crossing or not. You are supposed to make sure it is safe to proceed (no train approaching) before putting the vehicle back into motion,then they don't want you to shift until you clear the tracks.

I love all you guys' imaginary terr'ist scenarios.

So creative. You're probably giving them ideas. Now they're gonna act out your scenarios and not even give you any credit for coming up with it.

dangerous, well we really haven't gotten into the real threat, that is of the lollypop guild and the hordes of munchkin terrorists. :P

Jonathan,

Don't forget the Flying Monkeys!

oooh yeah, the flying monkeys. :D

Good that you got my reference hehehe even though it was a pretty obvious one

Yes, you're right, I'm not so sure about the Texas part but the rest is on target.

I agree, and it didn't used to be that way. Used to be, truckers were some of the best drivers on the road. If anyone knew and followed the rules of the road, it was the long-haul guys. Now, they squat in the passing lane, change lanes without signaling and basically use the vehicle as a weapon. No idea what caused this wreck, but gone are the days I'd have bet it wasn't the trucker's fault.

Have you seen those trucks with the fangs in their grills? They are ready to chew you up and swallow you whole.

ChristopherM from Galveston or down there it could simply be the attitude comes from the fact that the majority of the drivers would be Texans.

ChristopherM from Galveston or down there it could simply be the attitude comes from the fact that the majority of the drivers would be Texans.

I have seen that same attitude in every place I have lived. Not all truckers are that way but a significant number of them are.

Keith: "most truck drivers' is a generalization intelligent people try to avoid. As with every other 'wrong', those are the ones you notice. Your world would be drastically different if it weren't for those truck drivers. The truth is drastically different than your statement. As with most things, the bad apples (and there are plenty of them) create a bad image for the drivers out there doing there jobs trying to deal with drivers who have no idea there's 80,000 Lbs that will not stop on a dime on the same road. Bad drivers occupy the seat behind the seat of all types of vehicles. And yes, I am married to a driver, with over one million miles of safe driving to his credit, as are our friends in the industry. Their greatest fear is injuring another motorist, regardless of the circumstances. And yes, we are Texans. No one will ever know why that driver hit the train, only suppositions. And his family will have to live with this horrible legacy he has left them to bear. Prayers for the families of all involved.

sounds to me like christopher lost a girlfriend to a texas truck driver.... it wasnt me because i am married but i just love it how he is so willing to broadly paint every one of us with his obviously tainted broad brush. i have been driveing professionaly for probably more years than he has been on this earth, a couple million miles worth and know from experience that obeying traffic laws and being curtious to my fellow drivers is the only way to go. not everyone is a highway rambo

It'll be interesting who the truck driver is and his driving history. I was down in Texas and was almost rear ended by a truck from Mexico going into a curve. I had to step on the gas to avoid being certainly killed. Don't no if it was the driver or his brakes. I did notify the state police but never heard from them.

From my original comment, “I don't know about other parts of the country, but down here in Texas most truck drivers …”

First, this is maybe my third post on this website in who knows how many years, and I’m surprised that my comment generated any interest whatsoever.

But seeing that it did, I’m adding another submission here to clarify a few “misunderstandings.”

In the first line of this submission, note the above quote from my original submission. I didn’t major in English in college, but I am nonetheless convinced that the use of the phrase “I don’t know about other parts of the country” clearly indicates that I have insufficient knowledge in order to make a determination about truck drivers in other parts of the country; furthermore, the use of the word “most” (and the fact that I studiously avoided using the word “all”) clearly indicates that I am convinced that not all truck drivers fall into this category. I therefore fail to see how anybody who carefully read my original submission (note my use of the word “carefully”) would come-away thinking that I was painting all truck drivers with the same broad-brush.

I’ve lived in Texas for almost 60 years, I am a native Texan, and have driven through most (note the use of the word “most” and the absence of the word “all” here) of the lower 48; from Florida to Washington state, from California to Massachusetts, including a few provinces in Canada. No, I haven’t lost a girlfriend to a truck driver.

But I’ve been here long enough to remember when truck drivers were considered (my dad’s phrase) “the knights of the highway” and were easily the most courteous drivers on the road.

And I’ve been here long enough to see most (note the use of the word “most” and the absence of the word “all” here) of those same truck drivers slowly change so that they are easily the most aggressive and egomaniacal drivers on the road today. And this is from personal experience in this part of Texas.

Trust me: if most of them change once more so that they once again become “the knights of the highway,” then I’ll certainly be one of the first to give them their due.

In the meantime, I’ll be dodging trucks and giving them the right-of-way as they run red-lights and stop-signs in front of me.

It's not just the truckers who are arrogant and egomanical I have personally been almost run off the road by four wheelers. Not to mention I drove trucks for years and have had four wheelers pass me up and slam on the brakes right in front me and forcing me to take evasive action. And until you start paying the kind of road taxes that the trucks do they pretty much own the road. And for yeilding right of away how come when entering a highway you expect those who are already in the travels lanes to give you right of way when When you are supposed to yeild??????????? I'm so sick and tired of you so-n-so's who think that truckers are bad drivers when it's You that create the trouble for the truckers!!!!!!!!!!! Why don't you take a good hard look at your behavior when you are aaround a semi-truck.

Trucks use way too much fuel per tons of load, and cause great wear and tear to the (taxpayer built and maintained) highways. Truck drivers are alone, and their trucks do not have the device (on new Mercedes cars) that will stop their vehicle if a hazard is detected. The long-distance loads should be on trains, not trucks. This will not slow down commerce, because a train can pull a much greater load than a truck; we will just have our goods cheaper and safer. And, we need safety standards for trains and their drivers too.

CHRIS- I used to drive around 50,000 miles a year all over the States ,in a car, I never once saw a semi do what you are saying. Sure saw hundreds, maybe a thousand cars and PUs, with those kind of drivers. I think you are just passing myths for the most part.

Elizabeth-1372999

Trucks use way too much fuel per tons of load, and cause great wear and tear to the (taxpayer built and maintained) highways.

Class 8 trucks make up less than 3% of all registered vehicles on the road and yet they pay approximately 40% of all road use taxes and tolls. So we do pay our fair share of the road taxes. The "supposed" damage that trucks to to the roads is not the trucks fault. We are regulated to weigh 80,000lbs maximum with 20,000lbs on a single axle and 34,000lbs on a tandem axle, now if the roads we are allowed to drive on cannot handle that standard how is it the trucks fault?

Truck drivers are alone, and their trucks do not have the device (on new Mercedes cars) that will stop their vehicle if a hazard is detected.

Wrong. Adaptive cruise control was pioneered on class 8 trucks long before it was available in cars. Lane departure systems was also available on trucks before it was available on cars.

The long-distance loads should be on trains, not trucks. This will not slow down commerce, because a train can pull a much greater load than a truck; we will just have our goods cheaper and safer.

Once again you are wrong. I will use produce as a prime example, fresh produce from the Salinas Valley in Ca has 4 days from when loaded on a truck or train to be on the east coast or it will be refused due to being too old for sale. A solo driver in an 18-wheeler can get anywhere in the country in 4 days. The train? It will be lucky to be leaving Chicago after 4 days out of Salinas. The fact of the matter is that the railroad is at 95% capacity and they do not have the tracks or money to add to that capacity and 60% of that capacity is used to haul nothing but coal and chemicals. Also figure in that most companies run what their deliveries as "Just In Time" (JIT), the railroad has proven time and time again that they are not capable of delivering on time in a JIT enviroment.

i see other drivers act irresponsibly.to be honest its only a few.as for the cops ignoring this behavor,your delusional.drivers like that never last long its either accidents or tickets that put them out of business

It is unfortunate that the media only picks up on the bad accidents and little else. You don't hear about the drivers that put their truck in the ditch to avoid running over a brainless soccer mom with a car load of kids that decides to slide into the drivers assured clear distance from the vehicle in front of him and then soccer mom slams on the brakes. You dont hear about the driver that stops and gives up his fire extinguisher because your car caught fire. The majority of drivers have family's at home just like you that they want to get home to in one piece to spend a little time with.

Wizards:

Not to dispute or agree with your figures, but I wonder how air travel compares to truck with your assertions/figures. A 747 can haul cross country if it has a full itinerary with a lower fuel consumption per pound than a truck can (I believe train would be the most efficient though), though the logistics may not work in terms of distribution between the major hub (airport) and the final destinations.

With regards to the original point regarding the accident avoidance features of MB cars, I see two problems with it from a commercial view point, one specific to this incident, and one in general.

1) The avoidance system can only work from a short range view. Driving up towards a railway crossing, the sensors would have to have an extremely wide sweep and the further you get, the likelihood of a particular item being a threat or hazard would decrease (pedestrians, wildlife in a particular region that is away from the road, tree's or large plants (say a corn field) in a strong wind and it is blowing. Our eyes can make a determination, but computers yet just can't do that.

2) legally, I don't believe that it would become widespread because of potential legal action anyways. The lawsuits in this case would go straight up to the manufacturer of the truck. I don't see that happening between a system that largely just warns the driver. Anything active beyond turning off cruise control, not likely for now.

The JIT situation is a real situation. I do wish that the railroads could do a better job and in some cases they have. The situation around Chicago is unique though because of some of the restrictions in place in the area. The current railway hub system in that area I believe would need to be taken out of the area.

The reports indicate that the truck was from a family-owned business that hauls concrete - and was perhaps 150-200 miles from its home office some time after 11 a.m.; that suggests a normal work schedule . . . until it was not. It doesn't sound like a long distance driver who was sleep deprived but a trucker who might have been distracted - if only momentarily - and realized too late that he would not be able to stop in the remaining stretch of roadway. His experience might have been with freight trains so when the driver did see the train he realized too late that his speed and that of the train put them on a collision course.

It is the accident report that will provide the missing detail; accident reconstruction engineers will look at the weight of the truck, the load it was carrying and the skid marks to determine things like rate of speed and stopping distance. That was testimony given when I was a juror on an accident case. It should make everyone think twice about distractions, including music, phones and radios and how they may impact safety.

Also, it will be interesting to see how much change there will be in trucking with higher fuel prices. People are changing their driving habits and thinking more about mass transit in cities and trains, instead of planes, for long distance. [Except for one unenlightened governor I know who turned down funding for high speed rail] Warren Buffett invested in a railroad not so long ago and plans to invest to expand the freight market; the reason given is that it is less expensive to move goods long distances by train than by truck. And with the population predictions for 2050 this country needs to start laying the ground work. So we should look for the lessons to be learned from poor judgment that resulted in this accident and, individually and as a country, put those lessons to work.

My heart goes out to all who are suffering from this tragedy.

Posted by Elizabeth:

"....and their trucks do not have the device (on new Mercedes cars) that will stop their vehicle if a hazard is detected. The long-distance loads should be on trains, not trucks. This will not slow down commerce, because a train can pull a much greater load than a truck; we will just have our goods cheaper and safer".

Actually, I know for a fact that certain 1971 and 1972 model year Ford, Mercury, and Chevrolet cars had both driver and front-passenger air bags and automatic braking equipment on them that was being tested at that time. For whatever reason, while air bags were later installed in cars, automatic braking systems were not, until only very recently on a limited number of cars. Make no mistake, automatic braking technology for cars has been around since 1971 that I know of. Just think how many accidents could have been prevented since 1973 when the initial test ended if our cars had automatic braking systems installed since then???

The rural 2-lane speed limit in Nevada is 65 mph, and the skid marks were 350 feet long, which would not be terribly outside what would be required of an 18-wheel vehicle to safely stop from such a distance. However, just by viewing the photos of the damaged truck trailers and reading the text of the story, the truck in question was an LCV, peculiar in use to a few western States, (with a somewhat shorter version in use in Michigan), and was not a regular 18-wheel tractor-trailer. The photos show the one semi trailer as a standard approximate 45-foot side-dump trailer with 3 axles, and most likely a 2-axle dolly, for a total of 42 wheels, unless the vehicles used super-single tires or the rear trailer was a pup. If the other trailer was also 45-foot, the length of the truck would have been similar to the double-length turnpike double sets seen on various tollways such as the Kansas Turnpike or the New York Thruway, or even on some of our highways here in eastern Colorado. These units can weigh substantially more than a regular single-trailer 18-wheel truck too. If this vehicle was loaded full of sand or gravel in both trailers, the stopping distance could easily have been quite a bit longer than what would have been normal for a regular 18-wheel single-trailer rig. Because the truck in question was hauling a relatively short distance, this route is not one that can be replaced by the railroad industry either, unless we do-in 100 years of history and get rid of cars and small trucks too.

I might have to see the railroad crossing gates and lights tested to see if they are operating with enough advance notice for a train moving at 80 mph and a heavy LCV operating a 65 mph to safely interact. In my commercial driving career of over 30 years and 3 million miles, I have seen plenty of instances where railroad crossing equipment did not provide what I would consider to be enough advanced warning to ensure the greatest degree of crossing safety, even for heavy car traffic. I might want to know if the truck was possibly over-loaded, which is a rather common problem in the bulk materials dump-hauling business, and I would also want to inspect the truck and braking equipment fully, as dump equipment is often put through very hard use, as some of such use is off-road.

Anyone who whines because truckers often have to run through traffic lights that are just turning red has no understanding of the physics involved in truck braking. The average family sedan can stop in half the distance of a loaded 18-wheel truck including reaction time, and in the case of any vehicle equipped with air brakes, an additional air brake application time that truck drivers have no control over also applies. At higher speeds and higher temperatures, due to drum brake fading, heavily-loaded semis can take even longer than double the length of a car to stop. For instance, from 70 mph, a heavily-loaded single-trailer 18-wheel semi might take 2.5 times as long as the average car does to stop on a no-gradient dry road, but if it is 100 degrees outside, that braking differential is even greater. If a yellow signal or a railroad crossing signal only provides 5 seconds of warning in a 65 mph speed zone, it is impossible for a loaded tractor-trailer to stop in that time including reaction time and air-brake application time, which uses-up a second or more even if the driver is not distracted, and a loaded LCV would take even longer to stop than a regular 18-wheel single-trailer unit too.

Anyone who thinks that we can just switch 75% of the entire national freight load from semis to trains ignores a whole number of issues. 60 or 70 years ago the railroad industry hauled a considerably higher percentage of freight, mainly to centralized freight terminals and between large plants and large cities. On routes where railroads competed, freight rates were much lower than they were to towns where a railroad had a monopoly, which is one reason why certain cities are large and many towns are not. Since the growth and decentralization of our cities has caused numerous industries to flee to the suburbs in search of lower cost single-story factories adjacent to major highways supplied by trucks, versus the previous standard of multiple-story factories and centralized food and consumer goods warehousing close to rail hubs supplied by trains, and much higher-density urban living versus low-density suburban housing supplied by trucks, it would be impossible just for this reason only for the railroad industry to accommodate a substantial percentage of what trucks haul now.

Furthermore, the railroad industry can not do a very good job with fresh food, whether fresh produce, meat, fish, or dairy products, nor any other time-sensitive product for that matter. If you don't mind buying frozen meat and fish, and only local dairy and in-season produce, I'm certain that the railroads could haul non time-sensitive centralized hub-to-hub bulk freight shipments well. Even if railroads managed to take a greater percentage of hub-to-hub freight, because of the history of urban design over the last 60+ years, large numbers of trucks will still be needed to haul freight from central rail hubs to decentralized outlying customers. Over the course of the last 60 years, approximately 75% off all pre-existing rail infrastructure has been abandoned and often torn out. Railroads very rarely haul general package commodities from building to building any longer, as it is just not profitable or time-sensitive enough to do so.

Over and above the fresh food issue, we as a nation have also become greatly dependent on a just-in-time shipping standard which railroads just can not serve well either. Imagine having to rebuild enough warehousing space to hold a couple of months of supply versus our current warehousing industry and their week or two of maximum supply, let alone the cost of trying to rebuild the amount of rail infrastructure that has been abandoned and torn out since 1960? If you don't mind taking a bath on your suburban house and then moving back into a huge apartment building, near huge multistory factories and huge centralized warehousing and retail along rail lines and near huge rail hubs, and either walking or taking a bus or trolley instead of driving, then maybe our current society of 310 million people which is growing every day could again use the railroad industry for the majority of their shipping needs. Otherwise, the idea that the railroad industry can again haul a majority of our national freight load is just not realistic.

My guess is that either there was not enough advance warning to safely accommodate the operation of the train at 80 mph, at a grade crossing used by heavy double-trailer LCV's operating at 65 mph+, or the truck had brake maintenance issues or the driver was either overloaded, speeding, tired, or distracted. Given that we are talking about northern Nevada and the fact that plenty of recent nationwide DOT random testing of truck drivers has yielded less than a 2% figure for truck driver drug use nationwide, my guess would be that the chance of drug or alcohol use by the deceased driver would be 1% or less.

All kinds of public spouting off about the trucking industry at large is not helpful nor warranted, as the trucking community as a whole has achieved an 80% reduction in the key fatality or injury standard per 100 million miles of operation since 1979. Grade crossings are always more dangerous than the open highway, and I am sure that this was an isolated incident, not an incident worthy of public slamming of an industry that employs 3 million of your fellow citizens and which operates in as safe a manner as it has ever operated in on a nationwide basis. If we want to substantially reduce the auto/truck braking differential, either we greatly reduce truck gross weights, which will cost all of us money in higher product prices at the retail level, or perhaps we should greatly reduce auto braking efficiency, so that cars take a lot longer to stop than they now do. How about just disconnecting your car's front brakes? Then you too could know just how hard it is to stop for a way too quick yellow light or railroad crossing signal!!!

Oldtimer - Interesting and informative post. Your indepth explanation of the historical changes in manfacturing, housing, warehousing, etc. and the complex interrelatedness with transportation infrastructure is thought-provoking.

Our transportation infrastructure (among others -power/water/sewage) has been neglected and suffered from lack of long range planning and investment.

I sincerely hope you are in a leadership or advisory role to Federal and State transportation departments - we need this type of understanding to guide planning and funding - to see past the next sound bite and commit to building now what will be needed for the next 100 years.

Update: A story and photos in the Washington Post shows that the involved truck was a "Rocky Mountain" double-trailer LCV unit of 9 axles, rather than a "Turnpike" double until with as many as 11 axles. Given the configuration of the truck in the photo that I saw, according to Nevada State weight laws, a maximum legal gross weight of 129,000 lbs would be possible, which would be 49,000 lbs more than is hauled legally by a 5-axle 18-wheel single-trailer truck.

The Washington Post article claims that the railroad crossing signal was programmed to give 25 seconds of warning, which should have been plenty of time for the truck to stop, if the driver was fully attentive and actually saw the crossing signal lights come-on right away. The Post article also says that there were three trucks from the same company operating in a "convoy" style of operation, and that the truck involved in the accident was the lead truck of the three. The Post article also speculated that the driver involved in the accident may have been distracted looking back in the mirror at the other trucks behind him. More than 33 years ago I was taught that the practice of running multiple trucks in a convoy was far more dangerous than is running alone with a minimum separation standard. One truckline that I am aware of had a minimum separation standard imposed by company policy of 1000 feet between trucks in 1995.

The truckline in question is a medium-sized family-owned local bulk and Redi-mix hauler. While the Post article attempted to play-up a history of seven maintenance or safety-related violations over the past 2 years, from my way of looking at what was reported by the Post indicates an above-average safety record given the type of operation and their size of about 100 trucks. The company as a whole had one previous serious accident within the previous two years, which again is not unusual. The first photo of some of their truck equipment on their website is of the kind of unit that was involved in this current accident, though a portion of the rear trailer is not visible in the photo.

http://www.jdt3d.net/main.html?src=%2Findex2.html#5,0

Their website indicates that they are currently hiring experienced CDL drivers for local work schedules of up to 48 hours per week at $19 per hour, with full paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, paid vacation, and a 6% match 401K program, which for many cities, not just Battle Mountain, NV, would be a pretty decent driving job.

I am a former trucker with over 30 years of experience and an above-average safety record hauling mainly regional LTL dry and refrigerated freight between Colorado and both the southern Great Lakes and the northeastern US. I also have a BA degree in Urban Land Use Planning, which means that I know a fair amount about both urban development as well as transportation logistics and technology. If the Federal or the State government is interested, I'm still hoping that they call. Otherwise I might be moving to Battle Mountain soon!!!

UnitedStates1776

Then please explain what that as of 2010 the trucking industry had the best safety record since the 60's.

And also explain whay that why between 70-85% of all truck accidents the at fault vehicle is the car and not the truck.

It seems more likely that the driver was distracted or didn't realize that this was not a freight train but one going 70 mph. He may have thought everything was okay and the next moment it wasn't. Sort of like everything is okay and then suddenly the toast is burned. Sometimes things happen just that fast

This truck was less than 200 miles from its home base. So it is reasonable to think the driver would have started from home rested, and if he started work by 7 or 8 a.m. he had time to get to this point via the interstate. It would be helpful if people considered all the possibilities and started by checking a map and then try to fit pieces together. Too many people seem to have already decided what went wrong. That's too bad; the official report will be interesting.

Whatever happened - whatever the driver did or thought was dead wrong.

Dee,

I feel blessed that I'm not that hateful. I hope your life gets better.

Landtuna,

Perhaps it makes you feel good calling me a moron. If so, go ahead!

It must be hard facing each day with nothing to believe in.

All are born sinners, yet Jesus died for ''our'' sins. Why then are we still born sinners? That leaves me to conclude that what said Jesus did wasn't worth it at all. I'm just going by what is taught. Also, doesn't Christianity teach that all of those who put their faith in the Lord are forgiven? How can you assume that all passengers or even all victims weren't fully committed to their Lord? If they were, then why didn't everyone survive? Let's assume they weren't. So in that assumption, why do the select few true followers have to suffer loss (say these followers are related in some way to the victims of the crash)? Also, how do you come to the conclusion that of the 217 survivors a select few of them weren't Satanists or even of another religion totally separate from one that views a God as all powerful? Finally, don't feel blessed that you are not hateful. That makes you sound weak and of a lower intelligence. You aren't hateful because you choose not to be hateful. However, I know you won't believe that which still makes me right because you've chosen not to believe that. The next time you stub your toe on something, let me know if you've been blessed with a calm demeanor. I think the theory points to this entire even being an act of human action. Not any fictional outside force had anything to do with the victims or the survivors. I know this might possibly get a few comments trying to correct my ''ignorance'' and I welcome that. From now on, can we try and think logically first?

Idiot....

It appears that you are lumping a few posters together but; whatever.

It makes no difference to me if you agree with me or not. If you believe being hateful makes one of a higher intelligence, than that's just what you believe. If you are not grateful that most of the people involved in this accident survived then that's just how you feel. If you feel that God is fictional then, that's how you feel. Why would it bother you that that is not how I feel?

Great posts, Laura.

Idiot...(I am going to assume that you assumed my screen name was targeting you which is why you cleverly called me an idiot. However, you judge to soon in that my name could very well be something I've used for some years now describing my neighbors from an old apartment. You know what God says about judging...)

It appears that you are assuming I truly believe what I have stated to be true but; whatever.

I never said being hateful makes one of a higher intelligence. I also never stated that I was not grateful that most of the people involved in the accident survived. Also, I never stated that how you feel bothers me. I, just as yourself, was just posting an opinion. Lastly, I came close to stating that the God you mention is fictional is when I say the word theory. A theory is not law. Prove it wrong and the theory is wrong. I did however state that no fictional outside force had anything to do with the victims or survivors. I do believe I stated my own ignorance, yet as typical, you choose to go on the quick defense assuming that I was targeting your opinion alone instead of doing any sort of ignorance correcting. This was why I lumped a few posters together but; whatever. Finally, if it truly makes no difference to you whether or not I agree with you or not then why make the comment stating so? I never asked for you to respond. The great thing about this is if you do respond then is shows that my disagreement does make a difference to you. If you don't respond, it just shows that you realize I never asked for a response in the first place and once again you spoke without logic. Please feel free to respond or not.

Laura, no one is being "hateful" They are simply pointing out the incongruity of thanking an omniscient and omnipotent God for saving people from something he theoretically could have stopped from happening.

Thank you, Rick. I'm glad to see someone actually reads a commit for what it is.

guessing god wasn't there for the 2 who died

Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City sailor wanna hump hump bar or is this getaway day, and your last shot at his whiskey. Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

"Finally, don't feel blessed that you are not hateful. That makes you sound weak and of a lower intelligence." . . ."I never said being hateful makes one of a higher intelligence." So...which is it?

You really should look the definition of "if" before getting so upset.

I'm sorry that I didn't know I had to be invited to reply to your post but then you DID invite me to reply to the second one.

It appears that you're not making a lot of friends here and I'm not the only one to shorten your username. If you had used "manwhowalkstotowneachmorningandthenridesthebushome" I would have probably shortened it to "manwhowalks..." Perhaps you should have thought about that when you chose your username.

Idiotsaboveme, I had more than my share of neighbors like that. Thanks for the laugh. lol

jack, cheap ripoff of nicholson #8.13

Rick881466, The hateful comment was collapsed.

Laura, I am sure that the family members of the conductor who was killed aren't feeling very grateful to the Deity at this moment.....

Thank "God" religion doesn't rule this country.

God was obviously busy saving the 217 and couldn't save everyone. Plain as day. Course he could have just stopped the truck in it's tracks, but he might have been distracted by an infomercial though and could have missed the whole thing. You never know, He works in mysterious ways. Maybe next time the Easter Bunny can help out.

Quite a religion where everyone is born a sinner. The itsy-bitsy, precious baby is full of sin? Doesn't stand a chance.

I know this is horrible but I can't resist.

I am surprised there was that many passengers on an Amtrak train :D

My condolences to the ones that lost their lives and I doubt that drugs or alcohol were involved. My guess is an over worked and underpaid trucker fell asleep.

It's Me-3655071

I don't think you understand what sin is. Sin is not just cheating on your spouse and shooting people in the face. Most sin is far more subtle. Ask yourself is there anyone more self centered than a newborn?

How the heck a train wreck morphs into a discussion of sinning babies is beyond me.

Run to the ends of the Earth to escape sinning self centered demon babies.

What a surreal thread.

My apologies to the families of this horrific accident. Allow me to apologize as well for the immature squabbling of my fellow humans on newsvine.

That apology should probably stand for every disaster story because it always happens.

keeter: I think the driver was distracted by that dancing baby when he was listening to that sappy song. You know the one from ally mcbeal.

keeter-2982792

You're absolutely right, my apologies.

god doesnt do our bidding but he does give us many gifts.it doesnt hurt to thank him on occasion

So incredibly insulting to the victims when some superstitious person pulls this "god was looking out for them" garbage. Sad to think how many people are still living in the Dark Ages, thinking that god or Santa or the Tooth Fairy are driving Planet Earth. Maybe you should ask your god-thingy to pay a little more attention to the rape in Africa problem. He's letting an awful lot of horrific things slide by.

I have always kind of wondered why religious people are so quick to thank God for saving some when others die? Many religions believe that when we die we go to a better place. If that is the case, perhaps we (those among us who are religious and I am one of those) should thank God for those who were taken because they are now in that better place. For those who feel that if God existed no one would die, whether it's war, accident, illness or old age, that wouldn't work very well. If no one died things would be really crowded right now. Some of us live a hundred or more years and others not so long. In the end we are all going to die. We are either going to a better place or nothingness. In either case, the sufferings of this world will be behind us so it won't really matter. Death is really a pretty smart plan when you think about it. I'm hoping I make it to triple digits but if I don't, that's alright with me. I am at peace either way.

Laura,

Comment #8 is well spoken. Apples of gold in baskets of silver. Amen.

Danno at #8.12,

Sorry...you guessed wrong again. He was also there for Jesus when he died...the just for the unjust. Obedience unto death, and that for his enemies (me and everyone else). Take it from one who myself was an atheist for 16 years...it's no small matter mouthing off about things we do not understand...assuming ourselves more moral than God in the process. The Christian gospel is as foolish seeming to many commenting hereon as it was to me from 16 to 32 years of age. The God against whom so many rail is all too familiar with the unbelief of the bulk of humanity (1Cor.1:18; Mt.13:13; Lu.23:34), and Jesus wouldn't so much as pray for them (Jn.17:9).

Homesick yank at comment #8:18...

May God-in-Christ meet the family and friends of the conductor at each memory. May the reality of Jesus - The Resurrection - be evidenced by their personal inner peace that passes carnal understanding. As a lady said of her 16 year old son's "too early" departure..."The joy of having a son has been taken from me; but not the joy of having had a son."

Chris at comment #8.19...

"Religion" not only rules this country, but heaven and earth as well (Mt.28:18; Eph. 1:10&22; 1Cor15:24,25,and 28).

"It's Me" at comment #8:20...

Ps.51:5 assures us we are all not only born sinners, but even conceived in the stuff. We're literally made of it. All are stillborn spiritually in Adam at birth, thus the need to be "Born Again" (spiritually). Please be made aware that the "itsy-bitsy" baby does have approx. a 1 in 10 chance of salvation according to Isaiah at Isa.6:13. If you think that's an unrealistic stretch, consider that Elijah was told by God at 1 Kings 19:9-18 that 7,000 in Israel were saved, though Elijah couldn't believe it. It is estimated that between 2 1/2 to 3 million Jews left Egypt with Moses. Multiply 7,000 times 286 and you get 2 million, two hundred thousand. Approx. 1 of every 286 Jews was saved spiritually at the time of Elijah. That's why Isaiah refers to the holy seed of Israel as "A very small remnant" at Isa.1:8. People ask, "Why "make endeavor," come to Christ as supplicants...not "accepting" Jesus, but begging for consideration. if so few be saved?" Because, before the "Elect"...God's eternal family whom He chose (Rom.8:29&30; 2Thes.2:13; 1Pe.1:2; 2Pe.1:3) before the world was established...are redeemed, they differ not one whit from the remainder of fallen, depraved mankind. No one knows before God's immediate act of salvation, whether he or she shall indeed be saved, therefore we're all admonished to search the scriptures. I sincerely commend them, and the Christ to whom they testify (Jesus) to one and all.

Laura,

I'm with you, lady. Thank God for Christ. My utmost sympathy to the bereaved, and greatest encouragement to any who find themselves moved to reconsider the Biblical message.

It is so crazy how all these little convos can be created by a comment such as "thank God" that those 217 people survived. You have Laura who seems devoted in her arguement, and "idiot..." as Laura so kindly put it, then you have those who just like to live their lives having opinions and beliefs of their own who choose to make light this horrific incident by adding a couple jokes or illegal immigrant comments... I hope all those who commented get to read this(this is mostly for idiot... and Laura)... This proves just how divided this "United" country is, we are all so caught up in our beliefs and in our proven by facts and test logic that we have divided ourselves to the point of no return, only the youth can save us all, not from damnation or communist(haha) but from ourselves. Laura, i respect your beliefs, however i find it hard to believe that you have to thank god for everything that happens in life. Thank God for Hitler, for Stalin, for "WAR" thank god that my parents had sex, thank god this guy or gal helped me when my tire got flat, it wasn't his own will it was god that made him do it. You are your own person Laura, god didn't make you who you are today, the parents you had the place you grew up in the friends you came to know, the school you went to, your social status, and the things that came up in your life that you chose to believe made you you and be thankful to all those around you that affected ur life and made you into that kind person who thanks an all knowing "GOD" for the well being of others. Logically speaking, the world is not 6.000 years old. Logically speaking, one must see it to believe it, experience it, or have some sort of legitimate evidence... Laura i have faith in some sort of thing similar to God, and that is good will, good will that is self-made and brought out by individuals like urslef who grew up and had the opportunity to live a life in which they can spare a thought for the sake of others. Idiot... believing in something whether God & Jesus Christ can be a good think because it helps people who feel lost and alone feel loved and cared for and this helps those people who go through so much not to give up on life and continue on even if they never get anywhere in life, having this belief helps that person live a happy life no matter how sad or bad or pathetic it may seem to rest of us, a janitor, the line worker, the sweat shop worker, the field worker, and all others who work garbage pay harsh conditioned jobs demand the same respect as the business man, the managers, the politician, and all others on top, because without the little guy they wouldnt be up top... and it is beliefs that keep the little guy going. I'm all for logic idiot.. but i am for unity and understanding of your fellow neighbor no matter what race color or background they come from. True a god that can save should, logically, be able to prevent. I for one believe that we are all at the will of each other, and it is thoughts like bashing on a religion or beliefs(idiot..) or being naive and unwilling to accept other ideas from your neighbor maybe even downright ignoring them(Laura) is the reason bad things happen all the time. Where in turn, unity, understanding and maybe acceptance of other ideas can only bring about good... even tho this specific scenario may not have much at all to do with what i'm talking about, this is simply my thoughts in response to your thoughts and i understand both Laura's and idiot's... I'm no hippy, im no philosopher, i'm no religious person, i'm no scientist either, i'm just a 19yr old who is trying his best to see the world for what it is, to see it's flaws and hope people can unite more often rather then fight. Don't get me wrong, arguing your point can be fun, i love to argue, but before you argue think of where the other person is coming from, their background, their race, their hardships.. and listen, and understand why this person has that opinion, and respect it. Don't be a punk idiot.. and try to be right and shut down other opinions because as much as you may think that is not what you were doing with Laura, it was, however i admire the logic talk.. And Laura, i dare say "bless you" for your kind heart but learn to accept other opinions as well relate to others, not just through religious means but by other means... i think you are both right in your own ways and i hope what i have written explained how and why i think that. God bless. Science & Logic rules. Eager to hear from you both and any others who wish to share their thoughts in response to my own... i don't usually post comments online but this topic has always been so heated it is fun to discuss it for everyone, so hope you enjoyed

unitywillbringaboutpeacehoweverfarfetchedthismaybe,itistrue&idareu2disagree

uropinion.

don't know what you have had to say, but you might want to learn about a paragraph.

Hi UrOpinionIsValid...

Someone has said, "If two people agree on everything all the time, then one of them is unnecessary."

Polemic: "The art or practice of disputation."

Disputation: "Debate. An oral defense of an academic thesis."

Dissent: "To differ in opinion, esp : religious nonconformity."

Jesus: "Think not that I am come to send peace (in the social or political sense, but rather personal inner peace) on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Mt.10:34).

That's poetic, symbolic, allegorical. metaphorical speech for the "sword" of His words that have a cutting or dividing effect between even close family who are put at odds by the truth of the gospel (Mt.10:35&36). He gives some the ability to believe His message, and withholds comprehension from others (Lu.10:21&22). That's known as God's sovereignty to which Jesus, the Son, acquiesced, leaving we mere mortals an example we're in no position to dispute. It's enough for us to follow His example in such matters.

Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus were anything if they were not dissidents against the religious "norms" of their day, which were askew from God's expressed will. Christians are not greater than their Master (Christ) and are told they will be hated of all men for His sake (Mt.10:22).

Ideally your penchant for "unity" is commendable, but reality has never, nor shall ever produce such a state on earth. Various government concepts (Communism - Nazism - "Scientific" Humanism etc.) have tried and failed, as all ever shall. Even the Supreme Court ruled that enforced pledging allegiance to the flag constituted "Compulsory unity of thought," and was therefore unconstitutional.

You're 19...I'm 70. Someone said, "If a man's not a liberal in his youth, he has no spirit. If He's not a conservative in old age he has no sense." You've got spunk, and like myself at your age, you're looking for a lot of answers to the riddle of life. Let me urge you to spend as much time with the Bible as possible. I was 32 when 16 years of atheism gave way to Christianity. Man cannot resist God's grace and gift of salvation, and you just may be one of the Elect.

An evangelist told his son, "If you have only three minutes to read your Bible in the morning...then read for one minute, and think about what you read for two." C.H. Spurgeon, England's "Prince of Preachers" said back in the 1800's, "Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food gathered elsewhere." Google his name, and check out his morning and evening meditations. They're brief and often profound. Think you just might find a lot to be "unified" with at that location.

Nice talking with you, and wish you all the best.

good words lonnie, however understanding and respecting an opinion, is not the same as agreeing with one. I will understand where you come from, i will see ur opinion and i will respect your beliefs. I will not agree to unjust bias and "i'm right your wrong opinions" because as much as a person can make sense, he/she does not make sense at the same time. I say this only because some people get so lost or believe in something so strongly that they disregard everything else. My response to any opinion or thought i dont agree with is... well that depends on the discussion at hand.

Thanks for the quotes and research about the bible. Thanks for the recommendations as well, but i would like to hear your words, not words you have read or words you have been taught. Your own thoughts, words and ideas are worth more than any others as long as they are genuine.

And true unity is a farfetched concept, but nazism, communism, or scientific humanism failed because their goal was not unity, their goal is/was to convince others their way is right... not at all what i have been saying... as for the supreme court ruling that enforced pledging allegiance to the flag constituted was "Compulsory unity of thought," and therefore unconstitutional is bogus, and i think its something we can both agree on

One, the idea of pledging to the flag again is making others somewhat forcefully agree on american ideals. Christianity, idk how many christian based groups there are, i would imagine that one specific christian group must practice "compulsory unity of thought" or else they belong to a different christian based group who see things a bit differently. To make things clear, christians believe in one thing, hinduism in another, catholics in another, Buddhism in another, etc, and they as a group believe this trough unity of thought. Or else these establishments could not have been formed. Without that similar thought, no single group could form. Also, i would like to believe that this being a democracy, demo-kratos, meaning people rule, the worst thing for this government would be unity in thought, because with unity in thought comes similar voting and this government would finally serve its true purpose in serving the people which is not what this government wants. So adding "compulsory" makes "unity in thought" sound bad, when in fact, i say it is good... I think my concept is a bit hard to understand because what i say contradicts itself... and at the same time it doesn't... so it is hard to fully understand what it is i am trying to put out there

eager to hear from you soon Lonnie

unityinreasoningwillbringaboutpeacehoweverfarfetchedthismaybe,itistrue&idareu2disagree

Hi There "Opinion,"

Gonna have to try for brevity this A.M. having 8 lawns in the neighborhood I try to maintain for neighbors who can't.

Your 2d. Para. at comment # 8.34 reminds me of someone who said to me, "Why do you always quote the Bible when I ask you a question? I want to know what you think." My response was that if the Bible has addressed the "Discussion at hand" as you say in paragraph one, or "sense" or "context," then it doesn't matter if I have an opinion to the contrary...I'd be wrong. The sincerity of a belief does not validate it. There must be authority higher than my frail, sinful self. My desire to believe that the government of New York wouldn't call God a liar by legalizing same sex "marriage" doesn't change the fact that they have. Utopia on earth was lost at Eden. Many intelligent/educated people are totally mystified by the Bible's seeming "contradictions," when, as you point out, the sense, context or "discussion at hand," as you put it, establishes the non-contradictory unified chain of thought God intended from Genesis through Revelation. Logic, by definition, must be non-contradictory.

I looked around one day and realized that book had been here thousands of years before I came on the scene, and unless we are as near the end of time as most are becoming convinced we are, it will doubtless long survive me. To those whom God has granted faith & belief, it is the authoritative Word of God (Jn.6:29 & Gal.5:22). To the majority of mankind it is pure gibberish. That will never change.

By the way, did you catch my first comment # 8.30? I don't provide the Bible reference locations to show off, but as a consideration for anyone who might want to read a principle from the Bible, but wouldn't remember where it was stated. It's a courtesy...nothing more or less.

C.S. Lewis, the British Univ. Prof., like myself, an atheist for many years, had a student whose father had observed, "We read to know we're not alone." When we read something someone else has written that states what we have already learned from life's experience, it confirms and validates our own convictions. If the plumbline of scripture agrees, then we're on track, otherwise we've got another thought coming...despite the majority of a concensus to the contrary. What good is a concensus of sinners? Do this "Opinion"...Google: "From Theism to Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. I think you'll find it most interesting. It's a short You Tube video. Note: He also observes that "At each progressive step along life's way we learn that our lives are less our own." Christians are "sheep" in God's providential pasture, and rely on Him over their own wits...or personal opinions. Their whole reason to exist is to, in humility, without shame or apology, bear witness to the reality of God-In-Christ. There's no atoning merit in doing so...only the joy of being employed by their Creator in that joyful undertaking.

You and I apparently totally agree...how about that... that religious institutionalism "ain't" where it's at. When I speak of Christianity, I refer to Biblical Christianity apart from any religious or political undertakings that might use that name without warrant.

I'm sure I express our mutual gratitude to Newsvine for allowing us this opportunity to chat about matters that may well be of interest to others. Gotta run take care of my neighbors. God bless you, "Opinion." You "ain't" half bad, buddy...depending on the sense or context in which you interpret "bad."

Lon

Thanks for the compliment Lon, I always have enjoyed intelligent convos with others. I am grateful we had this discussion... although far from the original mean which was to offer our condolences to the ones who lost their lives in the accident

The last thing i have in mind is what do you think about the whole "compulsory unity in thought" in regards to the government and supreme court. I shared my thoughts, what are yours?

and i admire you willingness to help others, even with trivial things like maintaining others lawns you seem more than willing to help. Commendable.

unityinreasoningwillbringaboutpeacehoweverfarfetchedthismaybe,itistrue&idareu2disagree

Dear "Opinion,"

It occurred to me during lunch that when the truck hit the train these converstions were destined to take place. Beyond condolences it is my hope that hope may have been imparted to some of the victory of life over death in Christ Jesus who IS the firstfruit of/and The Resurrection.

Not one Chilean miner rejected the only way out of that mine in Oct. 2010 after over 2 months of being "buried alive." As Laura, who started this conversation 37 comments ago said, "Thank you God" for Jesus Christ.

Jn.11:25..."Jesus said unto her, I AM the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live..."

Jn.5:28&29..."Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice. And shall come forth..."

The last trump is not destination sensitive. It wakes the dead, regardless of their eternal destination.

This isn't the end for any of the deceased. They'll be more alive "tomorrow" than they were yesterday...or Jesus was not God, but a madman, and who'd be disdainful enough to make that assumption? The weight of scholarship weighs heavy in favor of Christ as God. I joyfully side with that scholarly minority opinion (Acts24:14&15) on the basis of evidence submitted...both in the written word and the creation itself. Now that my threescore and ten are up, I don't expect to have to repent on my deathbed that I believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom.1:16), "intellectual" mockers and scoffers notwithstanding.

There could very possibly be increased pressure brought to bear on global society to "conform to the norm" where compulsory unity of thought is concerned. Rick Warren is in cahoots with the U.N. to bring about just exactly that agenda through church manipulation, and as before, the masses of churchgoers will be led into the ditch by their spiritually blind administrators. The Bible message is "Come to Christ," not "Come to church." Stay far removed from the harlot of Rev. 17:5 in these last days. Heed Jesus' warning at Mt.24:15&16. Rev.13:8 points out that all whose names are not written in the book of life shall worship Lucifer in the end. That also means that all the redeemed who remain at Christ's return shall not do so. By divine grace, they shall be preserved even though loving dissidents.

While I was cutting grass this morning I thought to myself..."What 'Opinion' is looking for is heaven insofar as unity of thought is concerned. That will be the order of the day in The New Jerusalem. I do so hope you and I are both numbered among God's Elect, 'Opinion.' I'd like so much to spend eternity in total unity of thought and heart with you, buddy.

Thanks so much for the joyful conversation. The pleasure has been all mine. Again, God bless you my friend. When you pray, will you remember me...please.

Yes, the driver was resting when he hit the train, and then the train arrested him. There is much more left to do for the victims other than pray for them: trucks need to have devices on them (like the new Mercedes) that detect hazards and stop their vehicles before hitting. If we turn our backs and move on, we are endorsing the accident, not the peace.

good idea, but that device costs money, a life is priceless true but not everyone thinks about it that way and almost no one will go ahead with devices like that yet. A law making not having that device unlawful would be the only way. Because that device on each truck is a couple bucks more the companies dont want to spend on because it is unnecessary. It's like asking all parents to have their kids excercise forcefully to prevent all the unhealthy living sicknesses that are out there, as wonderful as that would possibly be, it takes time and money. That comparison may be a totally different thing, but it is one in the same. Fine opinion my friend, but not enough people think alike to make that happen, this nation is an individualist nation that is scared of its neighbor. if it were as easy as implementing that device, this world would be a utopia in no time... if only

unitywillbringaboutpeacehoweverfarfetchedthismaybe,itistrue&idareu2disagree

If they know even the least little bit about physics, the mass of a train is many times more than the mass of any truck.

The train is going to win this battle easily every time.

May come out with a few scratches but the truck cannot win against a train.

The fire this time was probably due to a short circuit.

Passenger cars are not built like freight cars. They are not designed for much weight or a large number of cars in the train.

Back when I was growing up the tracks back home did not have crossing gates, so a lot of cars and even some semi's got hit by trains. Never did any of them cause fires. Short circuit could be a cause and so could explosives. I'm not trying to be paranoid, but terrorist threats are there and we don't need to ignore them. From the picture, explosives could definitely do that much damage.

If it was actually a terrorist situation one would think that the truck would be relatively loaded with some sort of explosives in an attempt to derail the train.

Why do you assume it is purposeful? Do people not get distracted or fall asleep at the wheel every day? And why would a malicious person pick a backwater like Fallon to attack? Surely there are trains in populated areas that would be more enjoyable targets.

It's a sad accident. Nothing more.

Poor phrasing on my part, Mikey. It should have read, who, but terrorists would purposefully.... After reading my post again, it does sound a little strange. Apologies, there.

lacy, wash your mouth, what you're saying is definitely not obama politically correct speech.

IWonder. I'll just give myself a pat on the back for that one. LOL

It could very well have been a terrorist, there is a reason Army troops and Air-force personnel train to go to the middle east here in Nevada. There are plenty of back country roads and caves where terrorists could set up bases of operations right here on our soil and a train attack out here in the middle of nowhere would be much easier to pull off than it would in a large city. No Security around back country train tracks, no ruteinly patrolling police to get suspicious about what your hauling in your van. Think about it.

Fire, from either gasoline or diesel, can be explained by the nature of such wrecks. The truck hit the 4th car, probably hanging up on it, note passengers reports of ripping sheet metal and two cars damaged. As the truck was drug along by the train, the fuel tanks (usually mounted low and outside the truck frame) would have beend gouged and effectively ground by the ballast (gravel) the tracks are laid in. Sparks from the fuel tanks and various truck components plus fuel (even diesel) equal fire.

Cars and trucks hitting the SIDE of a train used to be the most common. Train sides were unlit and typically painted in dark colors. Those facts (coupled with unlit, nominally marked, and often over-grown crossings) gave drivers a reasonable excuse. But since the 1980's, railroads were required to add reflective bands to railcar sides, light and signal crossings, and the clear-cut crossings to provide adequate sight distances.

Al Queda could do more damage using on old Chevette, a few hands, or one stick of dynamite. And all without the effort, or expense. expended by our own home-grown haters.

If this is the quality of terrorist attacks we can expect in the future then we have nothing to worry about and can eliminate TSA and DHS. If this had been a terrorist attack it would have been much worse. In fact as 12.4 pointed out the truck would have had a large amount of explosive on board or swould have been a gas tanker to cause maximum dammage.

LMAO at terrorist attack LMAO. You people do not even believe the trade towers were a demolition event...and you want to call this a terrorist attack.

No wonder you are all unemployed.

If I had planned to take out a train with a truck, I would have loaded it with explosives (as suggested by another poster), and simply parked it on the tracks. Even if the engineer saw it in plenty of time, he would have been unable to prevent the destruction...trains just don't stop on a dime.

The accident was probably not purposeful, except that the trucking companies know that there is a device that will stop a vehicle in an emergency that they can put on their trucks. It should be required. If it is not required, then the terrorists are the politicians and the public.

This was not a terrorist attack.

And Elizabeth, whatever device to stop a vehicle in an emergency, it still has to allow some distance for a vehicle to come to a stop.

The reports state that there are 300 feet of skid marks when the driver had his foot on the brakes; the truck took more than a football field to stop. I think the driver was terrified because he realized too late that he could not avoid the crash. Think about that.

I cannot wrap my mind around the idea that a terrorist would abort his mission if the train was his target; that seems unlikely.

Semis can carry upwards of 300 gallons of fuel. A hot engine block, a spark, hot brakes or a whole bunch of other things could ignite the vapor especially if the fuel was heated by the Sun.

The devices that automatically stop or slow vehicles to prevent accidents, pick up things ahead of the vehicle, not approaching from the side. If it picked up things even a little off to the side, imagine what would happen going into a tunnel, with oncoming traffic on a narrow road, or even worse, in city traffic.

Phone records can be traced. Other than that, any trucks should have devices to stop them in an emergency, because truckers drive alone.

Elizabeth you are clueless about things most state have laws about the use of cell phone and texting when driving a car most drivers use a hands free device and the feds has a law that any one texting when driving a truck, train, buses, and planes can get a fine of $2700 or more so most don't but with cars the fines are smaller and the states don't realy enforce it to munch from what I can see so they still text going down the road I see it all the time just one case in fact Maria Shriber was caught for texting and for devices to stop them in emergency are you stupid there would be far more fatal accidents then there are now you have no clue what it takes to stop a rig going 55 mph-75mph in some states at 80,000 lbs just because they have 18 wheels they don't have 18 brakes like a lot of people think that we can stop on a dime that's why they cut you off get in your blind spots and ride to close to you most drivers do every thing that they can to avoid a crash but emergency just happen blown tires and any thing can happen most drivers drive an average of 75,000 miles- 100,00 miles a year and most 4 wheelers do 10,000 miles a year so the chanches of a truck getting involed in a crash or having an emergency is more likley

Now there's a real possibility! It might be funny if people hadn't gotten hurt or died.

Who else would purposefully run into the side of a fast moving train?

A pissed of red neck who was fed up with his ol lady banging all his friends while he was out on the road.

Should have worded that better. It was just my own thought. Not saying, but if terrorist were to use suicide bombers in our country, it would have been purposeful. After all, threats of terrorist acts in our country, could become a reality.

"...if terrorist were to use suicide bombers in our country, it would have been purposeful."

I think that's the point of terrorism/suicide bombers. Also, you know what else could become a reality? Exploding eggs filled with chocolate and magic! Our reasoning is the same, I've too have heard rumors...mine were just of exploding magic chocolate eggs. The sad part is, my rumors don't keep me up at night. Get a hobby where you don't have time to let your mind wander much.

Idiotsaboveme. How cute. I really got a laugh out of that one. Idiots aren't above you, Dear, they are on the same level as you. Trying to be serious about what I post and someone immature like you comes along and makes an idiot remark. Who said anything about rumors but you? Now, why don't you go play with your exploding eggs filled with chocolate and magic. I have better things to do than read your nonsense.

"I have better things to do than read your nonsense."

Would those better things be replying to my nonsense?

Also, how can you deduce that I'm immature from an idiot remark? If that were possible then I could say the same about you and your idiot remark. My remark wasn't immature. It was outlandish yes but that term can also be used to explain your remark. I really did enjoy how you tried to put yourself on a higher level than me just because I told you to get a hobby. You're really on the same level as me when you try and defend yourself with a reply only to end the reply saying you have better things to do that to read my remark (with which you must have read in order to have replied). I never asked for a response but I do enjoy reading them.

Freedom4Everyone,

Another problem with route or local drivers is complacency. Driver drove the same road, same time everyday for weeks, no train. One day, truck or train is 10-15 minutes late or early, and catastrophe. The driver could have been looking right past the lights and the gate, fully awake but not seeing what his mind decided didn't exist.

And one layer lower, you find the lawyers.

Of course! This is a nefarious plot between the passengers and lawyers to milk the insurance companies.

It's so obvious now.

Yes, they had to have paid a dying man to hit the train with a truck. And all the people in the hit car were terminal cancer patients. Thats the ticket.

Diesel fuel is hard to ignite but it might.

Bending metal gets quite hot when it is being bent that fast and there was probably more than 50 gallons of fuel in that truck. More likely it was Bonehead.

Bending metal doesn't get hot enough to cause diesel fuel to ignite. There are many other flammable materials on both the truck and the passenger car to have caused the fire.

Actually diesel rags piled in a corner in the summer heat have been known to ignite.

I'm a former 18-wheeler you must be a legal citizen to get a CLASS A license, you're checked out by the Fed's, there's no way an illegal can get a Class-A. My guess the driver dozed off with the rig in cruise control. I received my license back in 2002 and had to jump through hoops to get my license & i had a perfect clean driving record before applying & was once a active-duty U.S.Marine, so unless they'd really lowered the standards no illegal can get a Class-A, the #1 license in the U.S.

Actually the driver was a male Caucasian with blond hair and blue eyes and traced his ancestry to the English who landed in Jamestown, VA in 1607. The driver was a devout evangelical Christian who believed in God, mother and country (although not necessarily in that order), went to church every Sunday (and sometimes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday). A bible was found in the cab of his truck, opened to a page where there there were lots of words about "begetting" and "begatting", raising suspicions in certain quarters that this blond, blue-eyed, devout evangelical Christian of virtually pure American blood (but not as pure as the blood of those who came here via the Bering Strait) might have been masturbating over all of that biblical begetting and begatting, and smashed into the Amtrak train just as he was having an orgasm of biblical proportions.

@katekat Ill bet your an idiot.That much Im certain. If you actually watched the video you will see its a dump trailer.

If the report about the person has come out, remember the Oklahoma City bombing: terrorism isn't just from the Muslim Taliban.

KAT-So you are another of us without a cent to there name, and nothing to lose -Hang in there!

kitkat,

Ever notice how many people here don't understand "quotation" marks. I knew you were calling the idiot you quoted an idiot. Keep your money.

in the article it states it was a grravel truck operation, so their goes your produce. gravel trucks tend to pay less and therefore they hire more citizens.

@ kate.. Well folks, I'll lay a 20.00 on the table that says kate is chiming in from some god forsaking trailer in the mid-west somewhere and that every cent "she" owns come in the form of a welfare check..Any takers???

I'm on!!!

I worry about idiots like this guy out driving around.

SHUT UP!



Hmmm...I wonder why I have had so much trouble trying to post this tonite...so, I decided to ad it to a reply that I liked.

You know what!...reading the different comments is fun...it's those that can't verbalize without calling someone an idiot or moron, that makes me want to pull my hair out of my head and slap someone up the side of theirs...just a figure of speech...would never do that.

No.1...the Good Book tells us...never to call someone an idiot...look it up!

No.2...foreign & domestic enemies just love it when you do this...divide & conquer.

No.3...variety is the spice of life...let everyone have their say without ridicule and abuse, but, use your God-given freedom to say the right thing at the right time, and not to be rude or vulgar or unkind.

No.4...since I also have an opinion, I will state it now...I haven't seen the television news on this, as I seldom watch the dang thing...but, my feeling is that he'd had a bad day, running gravel...and a bad life...and he decided that this was the right time to end it all...maybe his wife left him, maybe he had just gotten fired, could be a dozen reasons...very seldom, does a trucker not see a train, when there are no mountains obscuring his vision...people do commit suicide all the time...and it is the most selfish thing you could ever do...and doesn't make things any better, only worse, for yourself, on the other side, and for those who have to endure the loss of you, when you are gone...

Have a good evening all,

Layna.

Vancouver, Canada. written by a Landed Immigrant, btw, whatever that means.

Rick. More likely an illegal alien. Get real... it's BFE Nevada.

Oh, I just read another one I had missed here...Mr. O Supremo...I grant you the right to speak ur mind...but, the combining blasphemy with racism is pushing the realms of decency on this public forum...curb ur sexual desires for the bedroom...and leave God's Word out of it...God created 'begetting' not to be used profanely, like you have done, but to give genealogies to our 'spiritual heritage'.

And, ur reference to Bible believing, blue-eyed, blonde haired men and women, shows ur apparent dislike for Westerners (Americans, Canadians & British)...are you saying that you are Mexican?...see what I mean?...so don't be RACIST!...you don't only hurt urself, but, those you speak like this to.

I don't care about the color of someone's skin...I care about the person they are inside...and you only get to be that kind of person by being godly.

Have a good night,

Layna.