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  • Brightline Grade Crossing Incidents

  • This is a forum for all operations, both current and planned, of Brightline, formerly All Aboard Florida and Virgin Trains USA:
    Websites: Current Brightline
    Virgin USA
    Virgin UK
It is currently Thu May 02, 2024 10:42 pm

Brightline Grade Crossing Incidents

This is a forum for all operations, both current and planned, of Brightline, formerly All Aboard Florida and Virgin Trains USA:
Websites: Current Brightline
Virgin USA
Virgin UK

Moderator: CRail

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by BandA
 
Even those orange and reflecty plastic things that bend over when a car or Hi-Rail or wide load goes over it would help. From the edge of the ROW to near the tracks. Of course the RR would have to turn off any brush-cutters when going over such a crossing.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by electricron
 
Grade crossing accidents are always going to happen when inattentive drivers drive through, around, and over signs, lights, and barriers. Golly, autos even end up on tracks where roads do not exist, or where there is a grade separation.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by kitchin
 
Traffic engineering is made for solutions. About 79% of comments on, say the Reddit "gfycat" of the latest Ashland foul, are always sure to be castigating the driver.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
BandA wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:49 pm Need to idiot proof this by putting gates across the tracks that close when the intersection is open to car traffic, then open when the normal gates close.
don't hurt yourself coming up with these genius ideas.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by kitchin
 
Merry xmas. The Brightline death count is at 51 (corrected). There are three grade crossings per mile in the section that runs now! Well, cars are dangerous too, and we ride them. South Florida is an interesting place, packed into the coastal strip. Julia Tuttle and the Brickells hoped Miami, a new city, would be a beacon of temperance and culture. By the time Prohibition came around, as a local option, then statewide, then national, the city of Miami was voting pro-booze. Sheriff Hardie spent a lot of time trying to "run down every blind tiger in the county" (windowless saloons and bootleggers). Tuttle convinced Henry Flagler to extend the FEC to Miami.

Motor vehicle deaths in the three South Florida counties Brightline serves totaled 871 just in 2020. Surprisingly if you've driven there, the statewide rate is higher (16 vs. 12, per 100,000). The population of the three counties comprises 29% of all of Florida. That's a good market for Brightline.
Last edited by kitchin on Sun Dec 26, 2021 7:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by Erie-Lackawanna
 
kitchin wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 9:50 am Merry xmas. The Brightline death count is at 501.
Um, no. Maybe 51?

Jim

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by kitchin
 
As far as motor vehicle deaths go, for completeness, it's worth noting statewide 20.9% of the population is over 65, and in the three counties the figure is 18.6%.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by Gilbert B Norman
 
And one more for Pompano:

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022 ... ano-beach/

Fair Use:
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal crash Monday morning involving a Brightline train and a vehicle.

Local 10 News has learned that the victim who died was a 27-year-old family man with several children and another on the way.

The crash was reported at 5:39 a.m. at a railroad crossing in the area of Northwest Sixth Street and North Dixie Highway.

Sky 10 was above the scene just before 6:30 a.m. as car parts were scattered near the railroad crossing.

“I was in the apartment when I heard a big boom,” Lorraine Williams, who lives nearby, said.

A Brightline train with what appeared to be a white sheet covering the front end was stopped nearby, along with a freight train.
This incident occurred about 4.5 miles South of where I "railfanned" Brightline last February @ Dixie Hwy and Copans.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by BandA
 
The conductor of the freight train told Local 10 News that he believes the driver was trying to beat his train, but then was struck by the Brightline that was heading in the opposite direction.
The eight passengers onboard the train were not injured.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by Gilbert B Norman
 
The X-ing gates are not silent - and they go down.

True, the guy was on his way to work and likely had to drop the (surviving) kids at day care. Also likely quite sober.

But motor vehicle lawlessness has always been endemic down there. The Late Noel Weaver once told me "they enforce school zones; otherwise it's lawless".

I "go down" every year (missed '21; golly wonder why) and see it first hand.

Re: Grade Crossing Wreck in Pompano Beach, 11-8-21

  by BandA
 
I'm sure the victim saw the crossing gates, but a train horn is more compelling. Next step - quad gates?
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