Vehicle Break Down On Train Tracks – Avoid Armageddon 1 Way

Vehicle Break Down On Train Tracks, and a Train is Coming?

Wouldn’t that be your lucky day, a vehicle break down on train tracks. To be driving along, minding your business, driving over some simple train tracks.

And then all of a sudden you find yourself stopped in the middle of the train tracks. And you look and see a train is coming.

Your car just won’t move; it’s completely disabled for some reason. Time is running out. What to do?

If you think this never happens, think again. Apparently, a train hits a vehicle or a person every 3 hours in the U.S.

Canada isn’t immune.

Vehicle Break Down On Train Tracks: Which way should you run?

It’s good to think about these things ahead of time, just in case you do find yourself in that situation one day. You’ll already know which way to run and what to do.

You can fight with your mother-in-law, but if you fight with physics, you’ll lose. That’s the number one rule here: do not fight with trains.

A car hitting a train is basically like a car hitting an empty can of pop.

Which Way To Run Exactly?

Of course, you need to ditch the car and run for your life. We can replace cars, but not people (did I even need to say that?)

But before you start running, decide on the correct direction. Or at least, a fairly good one.

Run Towards The Train

Vehicle Break Down On Train Tracks – Important Details

Now this might sound totally crazy for us humans and hard to beleive, since we are used to running away from stuff, not towards it. Not sure why we don’t all run towards our fears. But that’s another story I suppose.

In the case of the train, however, you will want to run towards the train, but away from the tracks, if that makes any sense. Some experts say to run at a 45 degree angle, away from the train tracks, but in the direction it’s coming from.

The main thing here is to protect yourself from possible flying debris from the collision. This is the best direction to run.

If you run the same direction the train is going, you may be hit by flying objects; namely chunks of your vehicle.

Don’t run directly parallel to the tracks because often a train will have an overhang of about 3 feet.

You can also call 911. But run away first if the train is near because you can’t call 911 if you’re dead. Sorry I am just so blunt sometimes.

So, now you know which way to run in case your car is stuck on the train tracks. Just put this information into the dusty corner of your brain and it will be there if you ever need it. Hopefully never, of course.

Trains & Tracks – Quick Tips

Trains are closer and faster than a lot of people think
They can not and will not stop quickly
Never drive under or around lowered gates
If you get stuck on the tracks and don’t see a train coming, you should still move far away from the area in case the train comes you’ll want to be far away from the collision
Be aware of tracks with multiple crossings, look left and right for more trains, sometimes there are multiple trains coming
Trains don’t always have a set schedule; always look for them

BC Driving Blog