Tower of Power Musicians Hit By Train

Oh, this spooks me! Yoshi's is a great place, but the trains in Jack London Square are alarming!:

OAKLAND, Calif.

Two musicians with the legendary Oakland funk/R&B band Tower of Power remained in critical condition Friday after being hit Thursday night by an Amtrak train in Jack London Square.

Drummer Dave Garibaldi, 70, a longtime member of the band, suffered head and facial injuries. Reports said officials were optimistic for a complete recovery. Bassist Marc Van Wageningen, who was filling in for regular bassist Frank Rocco Prestia, suffered broken ribs, a concussion and internal injuries and underwent surgery at an Oakland hospital Thursday night, according to the band's publicist. Reports said officials are waiting until he stabilizes before performing more tests.

Highland Hospital spokeswoman Louise Nakada said Friday that both men were "critical but stable." They were on their way to perform with the group at Yoshi's nightclub when they were hit by an Amtrak train on Embarcadero at Clay Street on Thursday evening, officials said. They apparently were coming from a nearby hotel and the two musicians were due to take the stage at 8 p.m.

...In interviews and on social media, people familiar with the Amtrak crossing where the accident occurred said they feel the intersection poses safety concerns. Oakland resident Lydia Offord has worked at BevMo in Jack London Square for two months, and though she said she has become accustomed to the commuter and freight trains rolling through every hour or more, she said she's still leery of crossing the tracks too quickly. She tends to use the pedestrian over-crossing that connects to a parking garage above Yoshi's to get across the street, she said. And if she's just running across the street to grab lunch, Offord said she always looks twice.

"I've always felt it's unsafe to cross the train tracks at times," Offord said. "I hear them every day and I always double-check to make sure none are coming."

I remember seeing a video where two pedestrians were preparing to cross at a rail crossing where visibility was somewhat limited by buildings. The lights were functioning and you could hear a train horn echoing off the buildings, so it was hard to tell what direction the train might be located. The pedestrian on the right looked right, saw the train, and stopped. The pedestrian on the left looked left, didn't see the train, thought his right flank was covered by his friend, walked right in front of the train, and got picked off like a bowling pin. Easy-peazy mistake to make.