In Notus, ID. A semi loaded with grain turned off highway in front of me and crossed the tracks…right in front of a train. The engine dead centered the trailer and it exploded. The tractor was on the other side and other drivers stopped on both sides. I don’t know what happened to the driver. What a mess.
I know that crossing well. Took out an empty livestock trailer there a few years ago. There will likely be a local "witness" claiming that the engineer didn't blow the whistle. Whatever. We got it all on video, and no, officer - you can't have it.
Took 'em months to replace the overhead crossing signals. The driver (female) said she "thought she was in the clear". Tune changed when she heard the "witness" BS. Don't give a rodent's anus what the outcome was.
Truck drivers all think they're the biggest baddest thing on the road.
???
If you had real evidence, video or otherwise that an officer wants for an investigation how could keep it from him?
All the road engines have a forward facing camera with external audio that records onto a removable hard drive. That drive also records data showing pretty much everything the engineer does before and during the incident, and a lot of other stuff. A crossing incident is by law a trespassing case, and local law enforcement has no authority over the data recorder. That belongs entirely to the carrier. After an incident, there is a secure chain of custody protocol regarding that hard drive because it will be evidence for the defense (the carrier) in a lawsuit if necessary.
As much as the local LEOs are accustomed to their authority, in these incidents they have none regarding the train, the crew, or the evidence (though a lot of them seem to have not got the memo). And this is why when your survivors try to sue the railroad (UP, at least) over a crossing accident, the plaintiff almost never wins.
My condolences, las. [bleep] deal, all the way around.
