Got a message from a conductor buddy of mine. Seems like a veteran conductor on our division was riding a shove up in Rochelle IL and crossing a public highway. His brakeman was protecting the crossing and had traffic stopped when suddenly a woman driver in a pickup truck drove into the path of the shove. The conductor was riding the side ladder on the point and had his leg(not sure which one,but thought to be left leg)crushed. He was medivaced to a hospital in Rockford where he underwent surgery and doctors amputated his leg. The scuttlebutt has it that she was on her cell phone at the time. No indication of her condition,if any. This conductor is well liked and he was also one of my mentors when I was a student. He is a good instructor. I have no word on his present condition,but I have asked my friend to keep me posted. I hate to hear stuff like this! What causes me the most worry now is how the railroad is going to handle this incident. CT
Charlie, I am sorry to hear of your friend's accident. Now I must rant that those #$&*$^%$& cell phones have to be outlawed while driving. I have seen too many distracted people on the dumb things.
Yes. Certainly very, very sad. Please update us on details, as you learn them. Best wishes to him. mg: :sad: Boxcab E50
It never ceases to amaze me how stupid we all can be as drivers. I don't know what I'd do if Cells were outlawed while driving, but I sure wish they'd require a hands free set as they do in California. My condolences for you and your mentor. Hopefully the railroad will do the right thing.
I am very sorry to hear about your friend. It sounds terrible but it could have been very worse and you can be thankful for that. I seem to remember back when I was getting my license, many moons ago, that the law clearly stated you had to have 2 hands on the wheel at all times. 10 and 2. I heard they have changed that to 8 and 4 beacuse people were getting their arms hurt when airbags deployed, but that seems to indicate you still have to have 2 hands on the wheel at all times. If this is still the case, and I was a policeman, I would be handing out tickets in droves every time I saw someone on the phone behind the wheel. I wonder if it is still a law?
Here in South Africa, it's against the law to drive and speak on a cell phone unless it is handsfree. But believe me, it makes no difference! The stupid "blankety blanks" still do it. Of course it would help if the law enforcement, "ENFORCED" the law, instead of parking at the side of the road and watch the world go by. Here's wishing your mentor a speedy recovery!
What an unfortunate accident! Sorry to hear of your friend's injury. As to the cell phone issue ... I'm going to play the devils' advocate. Considering the number of cell phones being used in the US and the high percentage of them that are being used at any given time while on the road, there are few accidents. Driver inattention is one of the most common causes of traffic accidents. Whether it is unwrapping a stick of gum, putting down your mug of coffee, checking out your teeth in the rearview mirror .. or talking on the telephone. The result is the same. Just some are more serious than others. Two hands on the wheel does not enhance attention while driving. It only enhances control of the vehicle, especially now that virtually every vehicle has power steering. If cell phones were outlawed, then truck drivers should not be able to use their CBs'; police and firemen should not be able to use their radios and or cell phones while moving in their vehicles, etc. It's simply not a viable solution. I, during my career, (23 years) in law enforcement have been in many, many high speed pursuits, during which time I had to be using my radio to give location, direction and speed at as much as 160 MPH. All that as well as watching for traffic, road hazards and keeping the siren going without a single accident. Lucky? Maybe. I'd like to think it was due to driving skills learned through training. Think of how many helpful emergency calls would be missed. Those calls in themselves may be responsible for saving an untold number of lives or preventing property damage. Maybe it should be required that a cell phone user is capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. The test could be: pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time to pass. Then an endorsement could be issued with the drivers' license. Anyone caught using a cell phone without such an endorsement could be issued a citation for the violation. It's done with seat belts, isn't it, and it seems to be working. Just my two cents.
First Charlie, your friend will be in our thoughts and prayers durring this life changing experiance. 2nd. I'm so sick and tired of these bloomin idiots around the Rockford area with a dang cell phone in thier ear driving like lunatics. My Inlaws were rear ended the other night by some guy not paying attention. An 8 month old baby could have been seriously harmed, but thanks to crumple zones and the grace of God, everyone walked away. Personally I hate cell phones, I have one, but the only time it rings is when I'm driving, eating or using a restroom. I just let the stupid noise maker go to voice mail. Its an automobile people, not a phone booth.:angry: Rant off. I hope the Rochelle Police department fine her good as this little conversation she had, cost a man his leg and a way of living.
It is against the law to drive and talk here in Washington state, but guess what.....Many many people still do it! And almost everyday you see someone almost wreck because of it. If someone hits me while ileagally talking they will pay big time....so long as they have insurance! Rob:angry:
Sorry to hear of it Charlie. I don't have a cell phone but I see people talking on them all the time when they are driving and sometimes it is hard to tell if they are drunk or talking on it. Charlie
I should add that I have nothing against cell phones being used as a convenience. I have one myself but it is turned off except when I want to make a call. I do not accept incoming calls unless I know someone will be calling me back. My voice mail message tells callers not to leave a message since I delete them without listening to them. I have no objection to someone using their phone in an emergency,driving or not. I have no objection to police or emergency services using their phones and radios while on duty. I personally think CB radios should be banned since they are only a vehicle for foul-mouthed truck drivers and immature motorists to spew their inane drivel over the public airwaves. If they were used as originally intended, as an emergency communication device, I would have no objection. If there were someway the transmissions could be monitored, ala the railroad radio, I think most of the abuse would cease. However that is virtually impossible. People place too much dependency on their cell phone and it has become their pacifier. At several different times during my railroad career I held a trainman's job on the first commuter job of the day on the BNSF/Metra Aurora line. This first train job went on duty at 03:30 and pulled at 04:30. We were normally in the depot track by 04:00. There was a passenger who rode a couple of times a week and he would be on his cell phone from the time he boarded the train and would still be on the phone when the train arrived in Chicago about an hour later. Now whoinhell do you HAVE to talk to at 4 o'clock in the morning? if it was his employer, why would he still be talkin when the train arrived? He would be at work within minutes of arrival. Friends? I guarantee if I ever called my friends at 04:30, they sure wouldn't appreciate my friendship. And why do people yell at their phones? And why do they try and talk to me at the hardware store(p/t job)and talk on their cellphone at the same time? RANT OVER! All I know is that Ron's railroad career is over, at least as a trainman. I can only guess at what is going through his mind at the moment. CT
My condolences to him and his family. I think they should throw the book at her. Maybe this might be the time UP should sue her like they did back in that other girls case. She did not obey a flagman to stop. She was neglegent in keeping her vehicle under control and then after the railroad gets done with her. He can sue her as well for lost of wages and other pain an suffering as well.
As a society we did extremely well for decades, and DECADES, getting around, going to work, running errands before cell phones were ever on the scene. No one, NO ONE, is that important that they need to put other peoples lives in jeopardy just because they need to be on the phone and feel like a big shot! There was a study done recently and it concluded that people using cell phones in a car had the same reaction time, attention span, and reflexes as someone who was 3X over the intoxication limit for operating a vehicle. 3X!!! I know a fellow who is an EMT and he says most of the accidents he is called out for they find that the one that caused the accident was on the phone in over 80% of the incidents. The sad part about it is these people usually walk away without a scratch but kill others or ruin lives like what happended here.
In my time living near Denver, I lost count of how many times I'd see an overpriced SUV inthe left lane, doing 20-over the limit; the driver putting on makeup, shaving, etc, talking on the cell, latte in one hand, sometimes driving with a KNEE on the wheel... Crazy. Military installations are adopting this mindset--handsfree device required, otherwise, you pull over. Charlie, my prayers are with your friend, and his family!
Sorry to hear this news too. Way to many people today that can't walk and chew gum think they can drive and do something else.
Hate to hear of any fellow RR'er getting injured for any reason. Not only is this a problem with vehicle drivers, but with working RR'ers as well. A couple examples, I had a defect detector give us a bad axle count once, and I asked the conductor & his trainee what we were going to do. Neither one had an answer because; 1) the conductor was WATCHING A FOOTBALL GAME on his phone and 2) the trainee was busy texting with all his buddies. Neither one even heard the detector go off! Trainmen walking down the switching lead talking on their phones with their backs to the movement, not reading their switch lists. I could go on and on. And like laws that prohibit talking on phones while driving, railroad rules state use of cell phones while on duty is prohibited, but it still happens.
Sorry about your friend CT.Its bad enough when we get sick or injured at work,but its worse when a stupid 3td party gets involved. As for CB's,I've been using them since 1978 when I started driving professionally.When driving tour buses,I always used an ear piece.In my large car,there was no reason. If you don't like whats on,YOU have the ability to turn it off. I guess I'm lucky because I can multi-task.Thats why I have a hard time understanding how people can't walk & chew gum together.I have over 750,000 miles on my butt with a cell phone,CB,stereo/tape,cigarette & the sterring wheel of a KW all at the same time.I've got another 1.2 million before cell phones.
It is believed that a cell phone played a major part in the head-on collision several years back on the passenger terminal leads at Aurora. The engineer of the outbound train volunteered that he had been using his cell phone. Needless to say both the engineer and conductor were fired. The last job I worked with regularity(over a year) was that very same job. It was a good paying job but a real worker. I didn't mind the work though, cuz I stayed busy all the time, and as I mentioned, it was a good payer!(4th or 5th highest paying commuter train job). There is still some doubt,at least amongst some suburban service crewmen,that there may have been a signal malfunction. I have mentioned in the past that a buddy of mine noticed a signal anomaly at that very same signal plant, which he reported and which the FRA came to investigate and question him about. CT
