I dated a girl that had a run in with a train at one of those crossings. Tree lined road, night time, no lights, or crossing arms, rural south Texas. She saw the light of the engine as she was approaching the tracks at 50+mph. Slammed on the brakes and hit the third car. Got out of it with a broken ankle and ticket for failure to yield to a train. Lucky.
Same girl was involved in a head on collision a year earlier. She was in the back seat of her brother's mustang when a sleepy driver in the oncoming lane veered into their lane at the last second. Both cars were doing in excess of 60. She was not wearing a seat belt and was looking between the seats when they hit. Her male friend in the back seat caught her mid air by the legs and she ended up breaking her nose on the windshield as her only injury. Her brother driving broke both legs and several ribs. The other driver was dead on impact. I told her you only get three strikes. On Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 1:18 PM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > Just to make clear where I’m coming from, we are out in the country and > have people killed fairly regularly at RR crossings without gates or > signals. Roads cross RR tracks at an angle, and I hate the limited > visibility out of a cargo van and anything that further restricts the > visibility, I have even considered getting glass in the passenger side > sliding door because that’s a blind spot at some of these RR crossings. > Luckily the sand trains are slow. The Amtrak trains though will kill you. > I have 2 customers with family members who experienced death by Amtrak. > They do typically put gates at crossings *after* someone is killed. For > example 18th Rd. by Leland, and 23rd Rd. by Somonauk, and that’s just one > 5 mile stretch of track. Personally, I want to see both ways even if there > is a gate. > > > > There’s also the constant risk of backing over someone’s mailbox, I guess > a backup camera would take care of that. > > > > > > *From:* Af [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Josh Reynolds > *Sent:* Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:00 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] cargo van partition/bulkhead question > > > > +1 > > > > On Sep 29, 2016 12:55 PM, "That One Guy /sarcasm" < > [email protected]> wrote: > > I can give a first hand example from my EMS days of where they would have > saved a person. A "woman" was driving a cargo van and got in a wreck, the > front end crumpled, drivers door was seized, items from the back speared > through the drivers seat.on her right side. fuel ignited under the vehicle. > The accident was 8 miles out from our ambulance garage, getting through > town and to the scene was probably all told 10-12 minutes > > bystanders stopped to help, she was begging and pleading for them to get > her out. Theycould not open the drivers door, but were able to get the > passenger door opened. the fire engulfed the engine compartment. we were > advised of the consious alert patient and the fire via radio so we put the > hammer down. > > By the time we arrived, we assisted the bystanders with their burns, they > drove themselves to the hospital. > > We then waited on scene for the coroner, and assisted with the body > removal. Just fyi, toss a hot dog in a campfire and let it burn, thats what > a fresh burn corpse smells like. > > One of the bystanders to this day still isnt right in the head having had > to back out of a burning vehicle and listen helplessly to a person burn > alive. > > > > The short of the story is who really gives a shit what the law is. cargo > vehicles need them, especially utility > > > > Its inconvenient as hell to have to harness up and hook lanyard all the > way up a tower. Ive never seen somebody fall off a tower..... see what im > saying? > > > > On Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 12:21 PM, George Skorup <[email protected]> wrote: > > He's a witch, burn him. > > On 9/29/2016 12:03 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > Say 4.4 lbs. (2 kG) 88 fps (26.83 m/s) > > > > 1/2 M V^2 so 1 * 26.83 * 26.83 = 718 joules > > > > 9mm pistol bullet muzzle energy is 519 joules > > > > That felt good to get my math on this morning... > > > > *From:* George Skorup > > *Sent:* Thursday, September 29, 2016 10:57 AM > > *To:* [email protected] > > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] cargo van partition/bulkhead question > > > > F=ma? I have no doubt a big ass drill bit going 60MPH could penetrate > someone's skull. > > On 9/29/2016 11:52 AM, Josh Reynolds wrote: > > Put the drill at 88fps and 35lbs. Cloth seat. > > > > On Sep 29, 2016 11:44 AM, "Bill Prince" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Can't put more into it than it has to begin with. If the truck is going 88 > fps, and runs into an impenetrable barrier (brick wall would be close), and > "instantly" stopped. The drill bit "might" continue at that 88 fps. It > can't go faster than that. > > bp > > <part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com> > > > > On 9/29/2016 9:39 AM, Josh Reynolds wrote: > > Add in the G force of near instantaneous deceleration... > > > > On Sep 29, 2016 11:30 AM, "Bill Prince" <[email protected]> wrote: > > That sounds like an urban myth. It would take near-ballistic speeds (~~ > 600-1000 fps) to drive a drill bit like that. > > Driving a truck into a brick wall at 60 MPH, would only get you ~~ 88 fps. > > > > bp > > <part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com> > > > > On 9/29/2016 8:35 AM, Adam Moffett wrote: > > I didn't see it personally, but I'm told a guy here crashed an F-150 and > the drill with 18" bit on it flew forward from the back of the cab and the > drill bit poked right through the front seat. Missed him by inches. > > > > I imagine the seat slowed it down enough that it wouldn't have killed him, > but still... > > > > > > ------ Original Message ------ > > From: "Ken Hohhof" <[email protected]> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: 9/28/2016 7:11:46 PM > > Subject: [AFMUG] cargo van partition/bulkhead question > > > > Is there any legal or insurance requirement to have one of these? I hate > them, and while I understand they are to prevent decapitation by a flying > object from the cargo area, I can’t recall ever having such a flying object. > > > > I like having a rear window on the van for visibility, and even with a > backup camera and sideview mirrors, being able to see out the back is nice. > > > > Are there other advantages to them? I guess the AC and heater might work > better if isolated from the cargo space. I’ve seen claims it makes the > cabin quieter, but anytime I’ve driven a van with a partition, there has > been an annoying rattle from the door to the back. I could maybe see if > you could put some shelving units up against the back of the partition. > That might even make a van with dual sliding side doors viable. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > If you only see yourself as part of the team but you don't see your team > as part of yourself you have already failed as part of the team. > >
