Bicyclist struck and killed at Duff Avenue rail crossing The Ames (IA) Tribune - December 9 2002 An Ames man who apparently had a hearing impairment was killed Sunday when his bicycle was struck by a Union Pacific Railroad train at the Duff Avenue crossing. The Ames Police Department has identified the victim as 30-year-old Jonathan Schutt of the Sheldon Munn, 301 Main St., No. 308, in downtown Ames. He was killed shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday. "We have talked to people who knew him, and he had a hearing problem," Ames police Sgt. Rory Echer said. "At this time, we don't know if he had his hearing aids on." Authorities say Schutt attempted to cross the Duff Avenue crossing. He was riding southbound on the crossing's pedestrian walkway when he was struck by an eastbound train. Police said all emergency warning devices were activated, which included the automated train-warning horns and crossing gates. An accident reconstruction officer was at the scene for several hours, authorities said. "This appears to be a very tragic accident," Ames police spokesman Commander Jim Robinson said. "All safety equipment was operational at the time this occurred." Three train-pedestrian fatalities have been reported at the same crossing since 1999, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said this morning. The two-man train crew asked for and received peer counseling shortly after the accident. The accident closed the Duff Avenue crossing until approximately 1 p.m. Sunday. "The crew knows they couldn't have stopped and that generally shakes them up quite a bit," Davis said. "It is very traumatic for them, as well as it is for the family of the victim."
Wow..............how do the rails deal with THAT one? This time, my sympathies are with the family of the pedestrian, as well as the crewmen of that train. WIth all the lights flashing, how did this guy miss the signals? One has to wonder.....
Our prayers to the family and the traincrew. The City of Ames needs to improve the Duff Ave. crossing. I've been through there many times and there is limited sight distance for seeing oncoming trains, from either direction. The crossing gates DO NOT block pedestrian traffic and the city uses Mickey Mouse horns. The local residents do not like the train horns, it disturbs them; I believe the gentleman was riding a bike and the natural position to sit and ride makes you look downward and the crossing signals are up high and if you're not paying attention one might not look up to see them. We should all be looking both ways when we encounter a rr crossing, that's what we were taught as kids. Maybe the city needs to install bike crossing gates that make you dismount to go through. This accident didn't need to and shouldn't have happened.
