Palo Alto, CA — An Indiana woman died in a car train crash during rush hour at a railroad crossing in California on April 15. Local residents say it was a deadly accident waiting happen.
The woman’s death followed dozens of near misses between cars and Caltrain at the Palo Alto crossing. Volunteer "Track Watch" members warned of several issues that may have contributed to the deadly collision. Recently, the Caltrain safety-improvement project and Palo Alto’s street work have reduced the "buffer" between the and tracks where the car train crash occurred and made the warning signal bells at the railroad crossing difficult to hear. The group, which patrols the track to prevent suicides, said that they had seen many close calls.
Members of the Track Watch program spoke with Sue Dremann of Palo Alto Weekly.
"It really was an accident waiting to happen," said Grace Pariente.
"I staffed Track Watch for an hour a week for a year, typically at 9 p.m. in the middle of the week. There were a handful of times when I witnessed a car on the tracks when a train was coming. They always had a car in front so they could not go forward. Some went backwards, one went around crossing the yellow line into oncoming traffic. One hit the gate as it was descending."
"But the most frightening one was a woman who kept going forward and backward, apparently panicked with nowhere to go. The light changed and cars ahead of her cleared out so she was able to go forward, but it was too close for comfort," Pariente said. It "seems simple enough to put the stop light before the tracks, so there is never any need to squeeze into that area between the intersection and the tracks."
Track Watch member Susan Solomon agreed.
"I began monitoring the railroad-track areas at both Meadow and Charleston as part of Track Watch since the program began. Perhaps once an hour I saw a car slightly ‘trapped’ between Alma and the railroad tracks with the rear of the car dangerously close to the tracks," she said.
"This happens as part of a few common patterns. Cars cross the tracks at both Meadow and Charleston, proceeding towards the Alma intersection while the traffic light at Alma is green. The impatient drivers frequently speed up when approaching the tracks, apparently trying to both cross the tracks and pass through the intersection on the green light. If the light turns red, that car may be ‘trapped’ behind another car in the small area between Alma and the tracks," she said.
"Drivers also cross over the tracks when the light at Alma has already turned red and there is another car stopped at the intersection. These drivers sometimes misgauge the amount of room between the car ahead and the tracks or sometimes appear oblivious as to whether or not there will be a safe amount of room."
"When the warning bells are not ringing, such cars will often remain with the rear of the car dangerously close to or even over the tracks waiting for the light to turn green. If the warning bells begin to ring, the trapped car driver often honks for the car in front to inch up into the intersection. The front car usually does inch up, but not always. The driver of the front car may not want to risk entering too far into the Alma intersection with the cross traffic passing by having a green light."
"Once I even saw a police car behind another car stopped at a red light at Alma with the back of the police car too close to the tracks. The police car waited in that dangerous position for several seconds. It then moved out of the way by squeezing past the car in front over the right curb and turning right on Alma," she said.
Some people said the limit line at Charleston was moved back toward the tracks after the road was resurfaced. Even longtime residents have been caught unaware, they said. Others said the warning bells are more difficult to hear since the recent safety improvements. It is reported that drivers can’t hear the warning bells at the railroad crossing when windows are rolled up and the stereo is on. When they realize a train is coming, the gates already are down and the drivers are trapped.
On April 18 2011, Caltrain and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority officials had not yet responded to Palo Alto Weekly’s phone calls and emails seeking comment.
If you have been affected by a railroad crossing accident, contact a railroad crossing train crash attorney now to discuss your right to financial compensation. An experienced train accident attorney can find the cause of the crash and help you collect the personal injury or wrongful death damages you deserve.
