Train vs. minivan: Guess who won
A graphic illustration of the difference between trains and cars was on display Tuesday morning in downtown Salt Lake City. In this corner, a Dodge Grand Caravan weighing in at 3,500 pounds.
In the other corner, a two-car TRAX train weighing in at 162,000 pounds.
Both vehicles were northbound on Main Street when the driver of the Dodge, just past the intersection at 200 South, decided to turn left without checking his blind spot.
If he had bothered to check his blind spot, he would have seen the Titanic approaching, on wheels.
Dennis Kent, 68, a retired woodworker who lives in South Salt Lake and is a TRAX frequent rider, was sitting in the front right seat of the train. He saw the whole thing unfold.
“The driver of the train hit the horn, and I looked up,” said Kent, “and this guy was turning right in front of him. He hit the brakes, but these things don’t stop on a dime.”
Car and driver were dragged another 100 yards or so before finally stopping.
On the scale of stupid things to do, Kent said, “I’d put it right there at the top of the list.”
Trains don’t so much as flinch when approached by Dodge Caravans.
“I didn’t feel a thing,” said Kent. “I just heard the crunch.”
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So did the staff of Rare Method, an advertising agency with offices on the third floor of the building overlooking the scene of the incident. (Calling it an accident doesn’t seem right; an accident implies something that’s at least remotely unavoidable.)
“It was real loud,” said David Blain, owner of Rare Method. “It was that screeching metal on metal sound and you go, ‘Wow, that wasn’t good.’?”
It’s especially never good for the smaller piece of metal.
Chad Saley, the Utah Transit Authority public affairs officer who arrived quickly on the scene, added this perspective: “Think of it like this: An aluminum can is to your car as your car is to a train. Your car is never going to win.”
The driver of the Dodge, a 57-year-old man, was extracted from his vehicle, placed on a stretcher and whisked to the hospital. Police reported that his injuries appeared to be only minor. The biggest injury may be when he realizes what he did and whacks himself on the forehead.
Fortunately, the train was going a mere 15 mph, and the alert driver of the train had time to at least hit the brakes before impact. Otherwise, instead of just denting the left side of the van, the train could have plowed right through it.
“He’s at the top of the lucky list, too,” Kent said of the Dodge’s driver.
As for the Dodge, it was hauled onto a wrecker, inoperable.
After that, the train just moved on down the track toward its next stop, about as bothered as an elephant that just stepped on a grape.
The UTA people took their measurements and photographs to document what happened, even if it was perfectly clear what happened.
Saley summed it up succinctly: “You’ve got double yellow lines you shouldn’t cross. You’ve got tracks you shouldn’t cross. … And this is a perfect example why.”
And, oh yeah, LOOK!
And by the way, objects are closer than they appear in your rearview mirror, so even if they’re filling up the entire mirror, they’re even closer — and bigger — than that.
The only good that can come out of the crash is the deterrent effect — a reminder of the futility of going one-on-one with trains.
“You don’t try and dodge semis on the highway, and you don’t try to outrun trains,” said Kent, who, after the commotion was over, boarded the next southbound train for home.
For all he knew, it was the same one he’d exited an hour earlier. Not a scratch on it. Undefeated and still champion.
http://www.deseretnews.com/
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