[PRCo] Darwin Award Candidates

[Fred Schneider]

The Europeans also teach their drivers how to drive.  I've said it many times, "I would rather be driving in Germany because I know what the people around me are going to do."  And at least some of the larger European nations will not allow you to teach your children or your spouse or your girl friend how to drive ... driver training schools are used for that purpose.  When someone pays $2,000 to earn a driver's license, they are less apt to try to give it back.  I suspect that, in their training process, they instill in their students that 50 ton vehicle or a 3,000 ton train moving at 45 kmh is going to win any contest.
Most European gates, however, can be breached by a motor vehicle.  I'll have to ask a German friend of mine for European accident stats.

I know for example that British Railways do not have grade crossing accidents because they do not grade crossings.  Take that back ... I remember being told that several locomotives assigned to one line up north in Britain had headlights because that line had the only grade crossing in Britain.  But a lack of grade crossings does not stop lorries from driving rapidly under low bridges and pushing the track out of alignment.

rogertrolley.1 at juno.com wrote:

> You certainly cannot help the BRAIN-DEAD people that drive around lowered gates at RR or Lightrail crossings. They are apparently suicidal or on drugs. When the LAMETRO Blue line opened to Long Beach, there was numerous collisions between trains and cars which drove thru  clossed gates!! One paricular gruesome one was a taxi that raced the train down to the next crossing with 5 passengers aboard, and turned in front of the light rail train and was broad-side and pushed down the track. Everbody died in the taxi !!  The europeans have it right. A barricade rises out of the pavement that cannot be breached by a speeding auto which destroys itself on the barricade and allows the train a an accident free passage !!!     rogertrolley