Red Light Means....Free?

[Nashida]

Saw this guy driving home from school yesterday. As most of us MA folk know, the Mass Pike has a Fast Pass system set up where a transponder in your car is scanned when you pass through the tolls, with the toll being deducted from your credit card. I have one, and I love it. get me in and out quickly.

I'm exiting the Pike and see that of the two Fast Pass lanes at this exit, only one is actually open. Lanes are open or closed depending on the traffic light above them : green is open, red is closed.

I move my car over to the open lane when this Beemer zips up behind me, almost sideswipes me, and blasts through the closed lane. And has no problem doing so because there's no barriers or anything to stop people from going through it.

I couldn't get his plate number (was still recovering from the near miss), but I bet the cameras on the top of the tolls did.

[IT Grunt]

I'll bet he'll be getting a nice ticket in the mail, because those cameras don't miss a thing these days.

[wagegoth]

Almost as impressive as the doofus who broke the gate on the closed carpool (HOV) lane gate to the Dumbarton Bridge.

[greensinestro]

In Florida, we have the Sun Pass, which can be used at toll booths with operators. We also have lanes that say "Sun Pass Only", and you would think people would get the message. No way! You have certain dipshits who see an empty lane, then are in horror when they see no person standing on their right side taking money. I had this happen a few years back on the Turnpike in Fort Pierce. I was getting off there when this old fart in a Lincoln Town Car bopped in front of me (while almost taking off my fender) to avoid the long line at the booth, then stopped, looked around, and then attempted to back up when he saw nobody at this lane. I just stayed there and finally blew my horn to get him to go. Hey, sure it was rude of me to do, but he also was the one who bopped right in front of me and almost caused a wreck.

[ditchdj]

I notice old people are like teenagers: They do really stupid, brain-dead shit. And then they think it's YOUR fault.

[DeltaSierra]

Reminds me of when I witnessed a flatbed tractor-trailer truck attempt to go AROUND two lowered railroad crossing bars and broke one off because he couldn't be bothered to wait for the train.

[Chromatix]

Ah - if you see *that* happening, you write down his plate and call the police. It's a traffic offence everywhere I can think of (because it's freaking dangerous), and it's also destruction of property.

Not to mention that if the train *does* hit him, a heavy vehicle is more likely to do damage to the train and it's occupants than a car. And a car is bad enough.

[protege]

Not to mention that if the train *does* hit him, a heavy vehicle is more likely to do damage to the train and it's occupants than a car. And a car is bad enough.

Here's one of Amtrak's F40PH locomotives. It's shown outside the Albany shops in 2001. Not sure if it was ever repaired, since Amtrak had started retiring F40s then. This one, I was told, had hit a loaded dump truck From what I understand, the truck itself was totaled. The locomotive didn't get away unscathed either--the nose got bashed in, the coupler, anticlimber, and snowplow were ripped off. Standing next to this one, there were plenty of wires hanging down, and it looked like part of the frame was bent. Still, nobody got seriously hurt, including the idiot truck driver...who had jumped clear.

Still, unless a train hits a gas truck, the vehicle is *always* going to lose. A loaded freight traveling at speed can take well over a mile to stop

[protege]

It would help if I posted the picture...

[PepperElf]

I gotta get myself one of those transponders. NY uses "easy pass" and it charges your CC 15 bucks, and then uses that money until you run out and then charges another 15 bucks.

and slightly OT... was on the thruway recently and saw a car wiz by me with something written on the back window in soap or whatever. ... if you're going to speed or break the law, don't use a car that's easily recognizable. at least a half-hour later I pass the same car, stopped by the police.


and back OT... the toll-jumper... yeah, i'm betting on a ticket and a hefty fine for doing that. Especially if he was speeding. don't know about your state, but in NY you have to slow down to about 5mph to go thru the easy pass booths.

[Chromatix]

Yes indeed. Frequently, a train meeting a car will just shove the car to one side and not be bothered.

This is 100+ tons on rails (not counting the train behind it) meeting 1-2 tons on rubber. Even DMUs, which are more like 40 tons per carriage (a bare coach without motors might be 30 tons), usually survive very well, but can transmit some shock to the passengers.

But if the car gets stuck to the front of the train, it is likely to damage the track to some extent. Also, if the train is going fast enough - I'm talking about British express trains here, which reach 140 mph in places - there's enough energy in the impact to derail the train, which never ends well.

Which is why I said a car was "bad enough" news for a train. It probably explains why American railways normally run so slowly compared to European ones.

I'm not at all surprised that a loaded earthmover would cause that much damage, btw. It's pretty dense stuff and a solid vehicle to carry it. Bear in mind that in many locomotives, the nose section contains transmission gear, which could have been damaged by that - but then, American railways don't normally use hydraulic transmissions these days, so it could "just" be a crumple zone full of relatively expendable stuff.

Still, it looks like it protected the driver pretty well. That's good.

[Mike Taylor]

It would help if I posted the picture...

Tripod doesn't like hotlinking. Copy the image and host it somewhere like Photobucket or Flickr.

[protege]

Which is why I said a car was "bad enough" news for a train. It probably explains why American railways normally run so slowly compared to European ones.

Well, that and the vast majority of our rail system simply isn't designed for high-speed rail. Amtrak's AEM7 electrics will hit 125mph, and the Acelas 150mph, but there are very few places on the Northeast Corridor were they're permitted to run that fast. Amtrak would have to seriously upgrade the tracks and signal system to allow that...and with the Feds not wanting to foot the bill, that's unlikely.

As for my locomotive picture, here's a link to it. Hope that one works.

[Dreamstalker]

Link no worky. I think you need to download it and re-upload.

[Chromatix]

Yes, the tracks would have to be seriously redesigned, but the level crossings would be part of that. At the moment, level crossings occur at very short intervals on significant parts of the US railways, and almost all of them are ungated, or half-barriered at best. For all I know, the train driver is just there to push the horn button all the time.

Combined with the substantial number of private (and even professional) motorists who show a general and habitual disregard for rules and/or safety, any attempt to run a European-style express railway with anything less than full-barriers would be a disaster.

Better would be to make like the TGV and eliminate level crossings entirely. The TGV uses purpose-built railways for all high-speed running, which allow it to reach 200mph - it can use normal railways too, at a lower speed.