On The Meadowview Line

I think everyone was horrified by the Light Rail accident on Saturday:

The train, carrying about 50 passengers, was southbound on the Meadowview line at 4:10 p.m. when it hit the SUV on 26th Avenue and pushed it 20 yards. The train stayed on the tracks, but the SUV flipped upside down, said Sgt. Andrew Pettit, Sacramento police spokesman.

Investigators looked at video and other evidence from the crash site and confirmed initial reports - that the driver of the SUV drove around a 26th Avenue crossing arm just before the vehicle was hit broadside by the Sacramento Regional Transit train, police said Sunday.

Three fatalities, and numerous injuries.

Out of curiosity, I drove down to the crossing tonight. Westbound on 26th Avenue, it looks like there is enough space for drivers to reconsider going around the crossing arms even if they had already started to do so.

But eastbound is another problem. As others have mentioned, visibility is limited. The street is hemmed in a bit, and there are sound walls right next to the track, so you might not see a train until you are on the tracks:

"It's crazy behavior, but I understand why," Tolmach said. "It's another form of road rage. You can't predict how long you'll be trapped."

In several heavily traveled neighborhoods, including south Sacramento, Rosemont and Rancho Cordova, the delay can be doubled, because light-rail trains share the same rail corridor as freight trains, and trains sometimes pass through on separate tracks just seconds apart.

Saturday's fatal crash happened during what may have been a perfect storm for frustration and danger at a rail crossing. The 26th Avenue crossing arms were down continuously for 7 1/2 minutes while first one, then another freight train passed on two of the corridor's four tracks, according to on-site recorders, Sacramento Regional Transit officials said.

After the second freight train cleared the crossing, recorders show there was a 37-second gap, with crossing arms remaining down, before a light-rail train came through on its track at an estimated 50-55 mph.

During those 37 seconds, authorities said, video shows that the Nissan Pathfinder pulled onto the wrong side of the road to angle past the down crossing arm. It may have jumped a four-inch plastic center divider just west of the crossing

Interestingly, it looks like the engineers who designed the crossing foresaw the problem. That four-inch plastic center divider on the median of the street on the west side of the tracks is there specifically to discourage people from even thinking about going around the crossing arms. The engineers anticipated the frustration that might conceivably happen. Maybe the barrier should have been six inches, or even eight inches tall. Maybe the center divider doesn't extend far enough from the crossing (but how to avoid inconveniencing people using driveways near the track?) Maybe. Maybe a portion of the sound wall should be demolished in order to enhance visibility. Maybe. But maybe there's only so much engineers can do. People just make stupid decisions sometimes.