Disgusted...

I have been following news reports through varying news agencies on the disaster in Midland, TX. For those of you who haven't heard of this: A parade honoring veterans was crossing an active Union Pacific Railroad line when a flatbed tractor-trailer was hit by a train. The flatbed was a float in the parade with many brave veterans on board.
Of course the very first articles screamed "Train Slams into Parade". Granted, that is not really what bothers me... It's not like the train and it's crew sought out this parade to "slam into" it. Being that this is a fairly high profile case, the NTSB is investigating this with the upmost of speed. This crossing is also in a "quiet zone" meaning that the train is not allowed to blow the horns and that the crossing has extra safeguards in place. So far the evidence taken from the event recorder and camera in the locomotive and the camera in a following police escort seem to bear out equipment malfunctions.
Timeline as determined so far:
20s from impact: crossing lights and bells activate.
19s from impact: truck enters crossing.
17s from impact: gates activate and drop across roadway hitting the trailer.
9s from impact: Locomotive engineer starts blowing horn.
5s from impact: Engineer "big holes" the air brakes putting train into emergency. Train stops 75 seconds later.

Now the part that really disgusts me... A lawyer for one of the veterans injured said that he is "disgruntled" by the findings so far and that the fact that the parade organizers never got a parade permit is "irrelevant"... This guy is disgruntled that all the safety devices were working? What is wrong with these people? The truck driver (my prayers are with him) drove through flashing red lights with a load of vets( prayers also with them) and the lawyer wants to go after the railroad(prayers also with the train crew)? Seriously...

This is the end of my rant now.... Just bothers me a bit.

No...he's "disgruntled" because he now has to actually work and find something the railroad did wrong.
I knew a guy, main line engineer, running a LONG train, 4 units, came upon an "exempt" (private) crossing at 40 MPH...saw a Blazer pacing his train in a dirt road.
Even though he wasn't supposed to, he tied the horn down, and
big-holed" the train, as the car crossed in front of him, the coupler on his SD-45 went into the driver's window.
Daughter, who the driver had just dropped off at a school bus stop, saw it.
Junior Trooper comes on scene (obviously a fatality), climbs in the cab and starts reading the engineer his "rights". Engineer calls dispatch, explains what's going on, suddenly the Junior Trooper's radio barks to life...it's his Sergeant...."Where are you?" "STAY THERE!"
15 minutes later, Sergeant shows up, drags the Junior Trooper off the train, and reads him the riot act, up once side and down the other..
But I digress.

The LAWYER tried everything he could to prove the engineer and/or railroad at fault.
Pulled the recorder tapes.
Trying to find ONE PLACE where the train had exceeded the limit at any place on the trip.
This went on, and on, and on.

This engineer had been at or below all speed restrictions the entire trip, and the lawyer could prove nothing....but they tried...hard.

That's Lawyers for ya. We'd be better off in this country without them.

From "King Lear" (I think): "First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

I think it was "Henry VI" Doc.

waltesefalcon said:

That's Lawyers for ya. We'd be better off in this country without them.

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Till ya need one, because someone else is at fault and tries to deny all liability

waltesefalcon said:

I think it was "Henry VI" Doc.

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Been a while, Walt. You are right.

the railroad has the right of way, the worst part, the estates of the deceased will have to pay for these crooked lawyers.

tlthorne said:

the railroad has the right of way, the worst part, the estates of the deceased will have to pay for these crooked lawyers.

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'cept in England. Seems if you drive your automobile over the embankment, onto the railroad tracks, the lawyers have you charged with failure to prevent folks from driving over the embankment and onto the railroad tracks.
Or, you trespass by crossing the tracks, get killed, the Government files charges, as, as a taxpayer-funded body, Network Rail gets to pay out millions of pounds as "fines"....and this garbage happens all the time.

tlthorne said:

the railroad has the right of way, the worst part, the estates of the deceased will have to pay for these crooked lawyers.

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Why would the plaintiffs, have to pay for their lawyers if they loose. I'm assuming TX has a law that allows clients and attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, where the lawyer gets nothing unless they win the case

taskadog said:

Why would the plaintiffs, have to pay for their lawyers if they loose. I'm assuming TX has a law that allows clients and attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, where the lawyer gets nothing unless they win the case

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I agree and it makes them work harder and harder. What scares me is DC is full of them! Hmmm, One of my best friends is one. Sorry Buck, no offense. PJ