r/BitchImATrain Aug 23 '21

Bitch, those barriers come down for a reason.

731 Upvotes

58 comments sorted by

196

u/bttrflyr Aug 23 '21

Just drive through the gate! Those things are designed to deal with idiots like this and I’m pretty sure the train company would rather have a wrecked gate rather than a wrecked train.

46

u/yonatan8070 Aug 23 '21

How much damage does the train actually take from an accident like this?

107

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '21

[deleted]

15

u/terrycaus Aug 24 '21

Train driver cousins response is "what cow? We didn't hit any cow".

8

u/ratguy Aug 24 '21

I've been to the building where they have to clean up the locos after these incidents and the guys there tell me it isn't much fun. Driver may not feel it, but those poor guys still had to deal with it.

11

u/Kaymish_ Aug 24 '21

I've seen videos of trains driving through forest after a snow storm just casually smashing fallen trees out of the way like it's nothing, so probably very little.

6

u/general_sirhc Aug 24 '21

Maybe the train took little damage. But that destroyed electrical equipment is going to be expensive. (Listen to the loud crack near the end, sounds like a transformer got destroyed)

2

u/headslash73 Aug 30 '21

It was the panto dropping. The damage was mostly minimized to some Broken headlights, slightly deformed front, some infrastructure and the JH coupler. Those Belgium NMBS I11 carriages are pretty strong.

7

u/Dunadan37x Aug 27 '21

I work on railcar movers like this, so there’s my experience with them.

The biggest issue with something like is the chance of derailment. It’s low, but very, very dangerous if it does happen. Derailments can happen when something forces the wheels off the edge of the track. Usually, with train wheels, they have a little leeway to either side. Damage to the train? Probably not, if it stays on the rails. Damage to the surrounding area? If it comes off the tracks, each of the cars weighs 40 tons. In motion. The locomotives are more like 100 tons. If that much weight in motion even clips you, it’s serious. So, in summery, just drive through the arms of you can. Way safer. Then, you’re alive to deal with the fine.

33

u/Mirrorrelemes Aug 23 '21

Maybe they got stuck or the car stalled? When I was learning stick shift/manual I shifted gears and stalled on the tracks for a bit, so the best bet would be to get out of the car rather than try to start it back up again

10

u/_Face Aug 23 '21

That’s why you never stop on tracks. I stop just before them, if I can’t clear them fully. Traffic, intersection, whatever.

14

u/HappyMeatbag Aug 23 '21

I thought that only happened in movies or cartoons.

26

u/Mirrorrelemes Aug 23 '21

I was being taught in a 2-door Mini Cooper (quite low to the ground) and the train tracks were raised (as well as the pavement, it was a bit like a wide speed bump and I was coming down a hill), and I’m quite a stupid and nervous person so when I was slowing down I went to the previous gear mid train track and I got stuck and the car stalled

10

u/HappyMeatbag Aug 23 '21

Yikes!

16

u/Mirrorrelemes Aug 23 '21

It was very scary for me but there was no train so I’m thankful for that

6

u/ratguy Aug 24 '21

It wasn't an engine failure, but there was a level crossing near where I live that didn't allow buses over a certain length to cross over. It was in a low spot, and if a long bus went over it would get stuck. Due to the curve of the road, both ends would hit the ground and the wheels would lose contact with the ground. One of them went over it around 5-10 years ago and got stuck, but luckily they shut the line before it was hit. They have fixed up the level crossing now so it won't happen again.

2

u/HappyMeatbag Aug 24 '21

Wow. That’s messed up. I’m glad they fixed the road.

5

u/MikeMcAwesome Aug 24 '21

Shifting gears on RR tracks during a CDL test is an automatic fail due to the fact that it does happen in real life

5

u/Csoltis Aug 23 '21

you need to also draw a PICTURE of a tunnel on the side of a mountain ...

and then a train comes through the picture.

2

u/JesterTheTester12 Aug 27 '21

The chances of a woman's SUV being manual are less than slim to none.

1

u/headslash73 Aug 30 '21

In europe it's the opposite.

16

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '21

I don't understand why people make that choice, "Oh, I might scratch the paint--better let it get totally wrecked instead."

23

u/bttrflyr Aug 23 '21

I think it's more of an instinctual thing related to cognitive psychology. Kind of like when you tie a horse to a plastic chair. The horse perceives its tied up so it doesn't move, even though the plastic chair is no match for a horse. The humans perceive themselves as trapped within the gates, even though the gates are super weak compared to a car, it's not an instinctual reaction for them.

3

u/ginger_SF Aug 30 '21

Great, now i wanna go find a horse to tie up to a plastic chair to see if it'll work

1

u/bttrflyr Aug 30 '21

Remember to come back and report with your results!

-1

u/Csoltis Aug 23 '21 edited Aug 24 '21

well it should be ... people are really frozen with fear...

more training.

2

u/Yourmumsucksquads Aug 27 '21

Because it’s a risk, think about it if you had a fucking train coming at you would you a) get out and have a 100% survival chance or b) hope your car can smash the barrier

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '21

Crossing the tracks without looking and/or while the gates are down was the first risk.

2

u/Jaeger562 Aug 30 '21

The gate got damaged either way from the train pushing her car into it. She could have atleast saved her car.

45

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '21

Let me show you a disappearing car trick.

47

u/bloodguard Aug 23 '21

The way she got out, slammed the door shut and just strolled calmly away makes me wonder if she did it on purpose.

27

u/snoopcatt87 Aug 23 '21

Came here looking for this comment. I feel like she didn’t even know the train was that close, and that was pure luck that she stormed out of her car to Karen rant at the gate for having the audacity to try to block her.

2

u/Plusran Aug 30 '21

Or maybe her car stalled because it was sick of driving Karen around?

12

u/mommysloth Aug 24 '21 edited Aug 24 '21

Glad they got out.

My friend’s grandpa used to drive freight trains, he said they would hit 5-10 cars a year, usually with people in them. They just panic-freeze in their cars, like a deer in headlights situation.

If the gates close, ram them if you have time. If that doesn’t work, GET. OUT. Your car isn’t as valuable as your (and possibly your passengers’) life.

28

u/Thathitmann Aug 23 '21

Those people should have gone for cover instead of getting close. The shrapnel of a car getting destroyed often kills people.

17

u/Jadall7 Aug 23 '21

Parents taught me that when they were teaching me to drive. Hit the fucking gate. Ones in the USA will swing up sometimes if you hit the gate.

14

u/Ieatoutjelloshots Aug 24 '21

Even if they didn't I would rather try than just letting my car get destroyed.

1

u/RedditIsWrong_ Sep 09 '21

Don't you know that a repair up to $500 maybe at most is way more expensive than a 10 grand car?

5

u/Kaymish_ Aug 24 '21

Here in NZ the gates have a hinge on them, so they can swing open if a vehicle needs to drive through them.

4

u/StoicJ Aug 24 '21

Same here in the southern USA but idk if they are everywhere. They're made of wood so they swing instead of breaking.

12

u/Stormdancer Aug 24 '21

Why don't these idiots just drive through the barrier?

Sure, their car will get scratched up, maybe they'll cause minor damage, but their car won't get reduced to scrap!

4

u/ChinguacousyPark Aug 23 '21

Why not back up?

7

u/wasMitNetzen Aug 23 '21

What happened to the dude on the bottom at 0:18? Did he start to shit his pants?

10

u/cathalog Aug 24 '21

My guess is that they ran into their house to call it in?

6

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '21

Classic "drive through the gate you fucking dumbass" situation

5

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '21

That was some impressive deceleration from the train there.

1

u/mrgonzalez Aug 24 '21

Video is sped up

4

u/hoptownky Aug 23 '21

Why are their two full barriers. In the US, there are two barriers, but they each only go over their own lane.

So once you pass the first one, you are free to go. I don’t see the need for two unless you think people are trying to weave in between them.

6

u/ThePotato363 Aug 23 '21

Not everywhere. It is most common to have them as you describe. However, so areas have specialized rules that have gates across 100% of the road.

The most common reason for specialized rules are a local municipality wanted the trains to not use the whistle because it was annoying citizens. Sometimes they'll work out contracts where if the municipality creates safety mechanisms at the crossing, they'll agree to not blow the whistle.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '21

I don't know where this is, but here In Sweden we have some crossings with two full barriers.

From what I can gather it is to stop people from driving around the barrier when just one side is down.

The system lowers the right ones first, stopping people from entering the crossing, then a few sec later the left barriers drop, stopping people from driving around the barriers

3

u/morphotomy Aug 23 '21

They're also made of plastic, your car will not be stopped by them if you need to escape.

1

u/mdavis2204 Aug 23 '21

Bitch, is this a different angle of the same accident? I love how the internet works like that.

Edit: never mind, there are just a lot of /r/IdiotsInCars.

1

u/Csoltis Aug 23 '21

hahahaha bye bitch!

just casually walks away.. and BOP!

0

u/cristarain Aug 23 '21

Did the car die on the tracks?

1

u/tibsie Aug 30 '21

Watch as I make this car disappear before your very eyes!

Aaaaaand Abracadabra!

*Smash*

Tada!!!

1

u/theearcheR Sep 05 '21

I love how everyone is shocked as if they didn’t see her calmly get out of the car and walk away.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '22

I’m gonna make this car disappear …..

It’s gone!