Alabama is ranked 7th in the country for the most collisions and deaths at railroad crossings.
Despite the flashing lights, railroad arm crossings, and the not so uncommon news story about someone unfortunately getting hit at a railroad crossing, some driver still think they can tempt fate and beat an approaching train.
Redditor and Central Alabama resident /u/CalculatingTomato posted dashcam footage to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit shot in Tuscaloosa, AL yesterday (Feb 12,2023) showing a driver in a Toyota Corolla immediately gunning it around a pair of railroad crossing arms to beat a 2-engine, 7-car Amtrak train fast approaching.
Total time saved, about 30 seconds.
Check out /u/CalculatingTomato’s video below.
The incident happened at the railroad crossing on Dr. Edward Hillard Dr, just a few blocks away from the University of Alabama (link to location on Google Maps here.)
To add to the lack of seriousness of the situation, within seconds of the Corolla making its way across the pair of tracks, a bicyclist (with no helmet by the way) takes a cue from the driver in the Corolla and also pedals through the still flashing crossing arms.
As mentioned, according to Operation Lifesaver, Alabama has its fair share of collisions, deaths, and injuries stemming from railroad crossing-related incidents.
Just last year, in July, a Tuscaloosa resident and local restaurateur lost his life after driving into an oncoming train at the intersection of 16 St. and Queen City Ave.
To give you an idea of the forces we’re talking about here, one Redditor did the maths and concluded that that commuter train alone likely weight around 1.5 million pounds.
A small car weights in the neighborhood of 2,300 pounds.
In Tuscaloosa, failure to stop at a Rail Road Crossing garners you a $172 fine.
To be fair, most railroad crossings, up to 80 percent by some estimates, are unprotected and successful crossings require stopping, looking, and listening, no arms to protect you needed.
But, the flashing arms coming down are there for a reason, a train, 1.5 million pounds in that case, is approaching.
It’s not worth the risk just to save less than a minute’s worth of your life over.
