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[Bobby5280]

This is one of the most spectacular train vs semi truck crashes I've seen on video:

The crash happened Friday evening near Thackerville, OK. The Heartland Flyer collided with a semi-truck hauling vehicles. The trailer ended up high centered on the tracks, unable to move. This video ranks up there with that recent train vs semi wreck in Luling, TX where a train hauling a wind turbine blade got stuck on the tracks. The semi rig got flipped on its side in that accident. This one sent cars airborne in scary yet amazing fashion. It looked amazing enough to get picked up on national news coverage this weekend. Thankfully no one was killed, but apparently four people were injured in the accident.

Train vs semi accidents like this are pretty common. These "low-boy" trailers are often a factor. It seems one of two things need to happen to reduce these accidents. Either the roadways crossing the tracks need to be built up with far more level grades to give these trailers safe clearance. Or there needs to be far more visually effective warning signs placed in advance of these crossings to keep truckers away from them. Maybe the solution needs to be a combination of both.

Edit: just wanted to add kudos to the person who "filmed" the accident. Thanks for holding the phone sideways to capture a proper video image. Vertical video sucks so much @$$.

[hbelkins]

One of the shortest Amtrak trains I've ever seen.

[Brian556]

It was awesome how that SUV seemed to defy gravity for a few seconds before dropping

[Bobby5280]

One of the shortest Amtrak trains I've ever seen.

Yeah, it might be THE shortest one in the whole Amtrak network. The Heartland Flyer runs once daily between DFW and Oklahoma City. There was around 110 passengers on board at the time of the accident.

It was awesome how that SUV seemed to defy gravity for a few seconds before dropping

It reminded me of the trick magicians do where they yank a table cloth off a table fast enough to leave the dishes sitting in place. The train kind of did that with the trailer.

BTW, I did some looking at the crash location, by the intersection of Addington Bend Road and US-77. There are signs posted warning that trailers can bottom out at that railroad crossing. Google Street View only gives an angle from the West side of the tracks. It doesn't provide a view from the other side of the railroad crossing. But it looks like similar warning signs are posted.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8388482,-97.1310087,3a,75y,109.11h,89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCmgZvvojimc0U662jCchmA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DCmgZvvojimc0U662jCchmA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D62.299274%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[froggie]

Train vs semi accidents like this are pretty common. These "low-boy" trailers are often a factor. It seems one of two things need to happen to reduce these accidents. Either the roadways crossing the tracks need to be built up with far more level grades to give these trailers safe clearance. Or there needs to be far more visually effective warning signs placed in advance of these crossings to keep truckers away from them. Maybe the solution needs to be a combination of both.

I'm not sure these types of crashes are that common.  Sure, they pull the local news quickly, but I'd like to see some statistics before claiming they're "common".

That said, they certainly do occur, but I feel both the problem and the solution go far deeper than you indicate.  For starters, a noted problem with truckers (especially the independents) is that they often don't use a GPS that's geared towards truckers...they're using their phone or a regular GPS, neither of which will tell you if the road you're about to go on is bad for trucks.

Also, given our experience here in Vermont with a certain infamous notch road, you can have the largest flashing signs in the world and truck drivers will still ignore them.  Heavy fines will mitigate it somewhat (the fine for trucks trying to go through the aforementioned notch begins at $2K), but won't drop it to zero either.

Edit: just wanted to add kudos to the person who "filmed" the accident. Thanks for holding the phone sideways to capture a proper video image. Vertical video sucks so much @$$.

My wife teaches digital journalism and one of my favorite quotes from her department is "Just say no to vertical video".

[Bobby5280]

I'm not sure these types of crashes are that common.  Sure, they pull the local news quickly, but I'd like to see some statistics before claiming they're "common".

It doesn't seem very easy to get a clear stat sheet direct from the US government agencies on train collisions with vehicles. But doing a basic web search looking for the stats it's clear that thousands of train-vehicle collisions take place every year. 700-800 people die each year in such collisions and over 5000 are injured.

One thing is certain: there is no shortage of videos on YouTube of trains plowing through trucks stranded on railroad crossings.

Also, given our experience here in Vermont with a certain infamous notch road, you can have the largest flashing signs in the world and truck drivers will still ignore them.  Heavy fines will mitigate it somewhat (the fine for trucks trying to go through the aforementioned notch begins at $2K), but won't drop it to zero either.

The famed 11' 8' channel on YouTube wouldn't have so many "can-opener" videos if it weren't for so many truck drivers ignoring flashing warning signs and even a traffic signal that turns red when an over-height truck approaches. They've raised that railroad bridge in Durham, NC eight inches higher yet the accidents still occur.

I just think there is a stubborn "I'm going to do it MY WAY" block-headed attitude ingrained in many of these drivers. They gotta prove the warning signs wrong and find out the hard way the warning signs were friggin correct. And then some people just get a thrill out of taking stupid chances.

There's no doubt the truck driver in the Thackerville accident is in quite a bit of trouble. I wonder if he made any attempts to call the emergency hot line phone number -the one that is supposed to be posted at the railroad crossing. IIRC every railroad crossing is supposed to have signs listing the emergency hot line number and the crossing's US DOT location number. A driver is supposed to call the hot line immediately if his vehicle is stuck on the tracks. My guess is many of them fart around trying to get the vehicle off the tracks, wasting valuable time that would give approaching trains a bigger window in which to slow down and stop.

[hbelkins]

This morning, I came across a box truck with Ohio plates backing out of an underpass on Lumber Street in Beattyville onto the new KY 52 bypass. I don't know if the driver followed a GPS or what, but at least they bailed when they realized they couldn't make it under the bridge.

The truck turned right onto KY 11, crossed the tracks at the at-grade crossing, and then turned right onto Main Street to access whatever destination it was trying to reach via Lumber Street.

Virginia does an excellent job of signing low vertical clearance crossings on intersecting routes.

I saw a freeway in the background of that video with 18-wheelers speeding by.

And the woman screaming long before impact ... wonder where she was standing in relation to the crash site?

[Scott5114]

I saw a freeway in the background of that video with 18-wheelers speeding by.

That would be I-35.

And the woman screaming long before impact ... wonder where she was standing in relation to the crash site?

I think that's a farm animal of some kind.

[Gnutella]

I bet the trucker was trying to avoid the weigh station on I-35. Thackerville is right across the Red River from Texas, and there's a weigh station about four miles to the north of where this crash occurred.

Apparently, Terry Bradshaw owns a horse farm nearby.