[RP TownTalk] trains stopping: was F4 Buses

[Sarah Wayland]

On Apr 2, 2009, at 7:26 PM, Don Lynch wrote:
> The other issue that nobody has brought up is how a train approaching a
> road crossing is traveling at such a high rate of speed so as to not
> obviously see a bus on the tracks and stop!

> Failure to stop to avoid an accident is against the law on the road.

> Are trains under a different set of safety standards?

No, but they are much much heavier than a bus, and thus take longer to
stop. It's called momentum. The same principle applies on the road
when you cut in front of a truck - trucks need much longer to stop
than a car because they are heavier.  That's why it's a Bad Idea to
cut in front of a truck.

As I understand it, the train that struck the bus was actually a MARC
passenger train that was stopping anyway. I'm guessing the accident
would have been much worse if it had been a freight train that wasn't
already stopping.

There's a reason we need the crossing arms to go down.

What I don't understand is how the bus got stuck when the crossing
arms went down when those crossing arms are so flimsy to begin with...
but that's still another topic.

-Sarah