31airborne
Well-known member
Fished in an FOM event last week on the Chickahominy River (VA) - our final event of the regular season. The facility we used is on the upper end of the river. It's a popular spot for weekend get-aways, retirees, and doods like me who like to use their ramp. This is a one-way-in/one-way-out place. You have to cross an unguarded railroad crossing to enter. While it's not guarded, the crossing has stop signs on both sides. It also has warning signs cautioning drivers to look both ways, to make sure the rails are clear before proceeding. The stretch of rail at this crossing is easily a mile or more of straightaway in both directions. Bottom line: it's hard to miss a train coming.
On THUR nite last we noticed a flurry of activity outside of our cabin. Some of the people were very emotional, to a point of being hysterical. We asked one of the by-standers what was going on. A member of their church group and his son had been hit by a train at the RR crossing. The wife/mother was staying in the cabin next to us. About then the medivac bird comes in. People begin to flow back into the camping area. One of them stopped outside our cabin to share details w/ others who had been waiting.
Both victims were conscious and talking at that time. The father was ejected when the train struck his vehicle. The little boy had to be extracted from the car but his injuries didn't appear to be life threatening. The train - a high speed commuter - struck the car at the rear and spun it around multiple times. The train never had a chance to stop. The car never had a chance to clear the crossing in time. The next day we learned the little boy was going to be fine. The father succumbed to his injuries.
I've never made it a practice to write or talk about stuff like this in public forums but I'm doing it here to press home two lessons: 1) Do NOT jack around at railroad crossings. Guarded or unguarded, doesn't matter. Always assume a train is coming. Make sure both directions are clear before crossing. And 2) wear your flippin' seat belts, doods. We'll never know for sure whether the father had his on and it failed as a result of the force of the collision. The data suggests the seat belt anchor would've held, but I'm using this event to help hammer home the importance of making that 'click', no matter where you're driving or with whom. A family is shattered because someone made a really silly decision. Don't be silly. Be smart. Arrive alive.
B
On THUR nite last we noticed a flurry of activity outside of our cabin. Some of the people were very emotional, to a point of being hysterical. We asked one of the by-standers what was going on. A member of their church group and his son had been hit by a train at the RR crossing. The wife/mother was staying in the cabin next to us. About then the medivac bird comes in. People begin to flow back into the camping area. One of them stopped outside our cabin to share details w/ others who had been waiting.
Both victims were conscious and talking at that time. The father was ejected when the train struck his vehicle. The little boy had to be extracted from the car but his injuries didn't appear to be life threatening. The train - a high speed commuter - struck the car at the rear and spun it around multiple times. The train never had a chance to stop. The car never had a chance to clear the crossing in time. The next day we learned the little boy was going to be fine. The father succumbed to his injuries.
I've never made it a practice to write or talk about stuff like this in public forums but I'm doing it here to press home two lessons: 1) Do NOT jack around at railroad crossings. Guarded or unguarded, doesn't matter. Always assume a train is coming. Make sure both directions are clear before crossing. And 2) wear your flippin' seat belts, doods. We'll never know for sure whether the father had his on and it failed as a result of the force of the collision. The data suggests the seat belt anchor would've held, but I'm using this event to help hammer home the importance of making that 'click', no matter where you're driving or with whom. A family is shattered because someone made a really silly decision. Don't be silly. Be smart. Arrive alive.
B
