Houstonist Flickr Photo of the Day - After a Late Night at Work
H-Town Rock
Police are still investigating some of the details behind a tragic story that unfolded this morning: at about four AM, a stolen SUV carrying several teenagers hit a stalled train near Baytown, leaving four of the young passengers dead.
Police reported that the driver of the Jeep Cherokee did not see the train and ran right into a tanker car. The four backseat passengers were killed instantly. The driver was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann and is in critical condition. A front seat passenger was also transported to the hospital, but is in stable condition. The four passengers who were killed ranged in age from 12 to 17.
The father of one of the crash victims, Doug Moyers, described learning about the crash, which involved his daughter and his niece, ages 12 and 14. He and his family realized that his daughter was out of the house in the middle of the night and she did not answer her cell phone when they called her. Another one of his daughters located the wreck and the father was able to recognize his daughter by her clothes as soon as they pulled her out.
Moyers pointed out that that there are no lights or gates at the railroad crossing and that there was a train collision there several years ago. A Union Pacific spokesman was berated by the Moyers family and other area residents because of the lack of active signals at the crossing. However, the spokesman said that signs at the crossing meet federal standards. Grandfather Donald Moyers said that he will "go on a crusade" to make this railroad crossing safer.
Picture via chron.com.
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Is there a round yellow (RXR) sign before the crossing?
We see the white X crossbuck sign at the crossing.
Nothing more is needed.
Sorry the car thief and stupid passengers involved with this criminality were hurt and killed.
It was THEIR fault.
Still, my heart goes out to all.
A white X really isn't enough, especially not at night. Most railroad crossings have lights and gates--why not this one?
It doesn't matter whether or not the car was stolen. The driver shouldn't have been driving a stolen car, but grand theft auto isn't a capital crime.
Incidentally, it was never stated that the people in the car were the ones who stole it.
The train was stationary- blocking the path. They drove into the train. How is that the fault of the railroad?
The kids snuck out in the middle of the night, stole a car (or received stolen property), were driving recklessly, not wearing seatbelts, and hit a STATIONARY OBJECT.
What's next, drunk people blaming the telephone company for telephone poles not being soft enough or marked with blinking lights?
Why didn't the parents berate the driver, or more importantly, themselves for this sort of thing to happen?
Is it not the responsibility of the driver to watch for stationary objects or other sorts of things that might happen to be in ones way?
Also, if you look closely at the picture, there IS reflective tape on the crossing, and many newer rail cars have reflective tape striping on them to help avoid situations like this.
Had this vehicle struck a stalled semi truck or a large animal like a deer, another vehicle, or a utility pole been OK then?
I agree, as unfortunate as this incident is, the victim/criminal's families are looking for an easy scapegoat to shift the blame from their own teenage children who STOLE a vehicle (or accepted a stolen vehicle-- surprisingly NO details of this fact is given in the media, also showing how the media can really skew what is presented to us). I feel bad for the families, but this is not the right reaction to the situation.
Another teenage joyride gone wrong. Blame the teen, look at yourself in the mirror and take responsibility for it, don't blame someone else.
I agree with the other comments - why has the news not focused on the fact that these kids stole the car and the fact that the kids are way too young to be out so late?
The father berating Union Pacific should berate himself for allowing his daughter to sneak out and participate in stealing a car.
Bottom line is: you can hear AND see a train coming. I have little sympathy for these families.
Absolutely agree - at 4:30 a.m., should the parents not KNOW where their children are? It is the responsibility of the driver to operate the vehicle safely - aren't railroad crossings and signage part of a, um, you know - driving test? Just saying.
How dare Union Pacific allow those kids to be out at 4:30 a.m. driving a vehicle which does not belong to any of them (however that happened) and not operating that vehicle safely (because the Department of Public Safety doesn't "really" address proper signage or how to negotiate a railroad crossing in it's tests).
Loss of such young life is tragic, but, trying to pass blame where it is not due -that's just PATHETIC.
I really don't understand how this story indicates any irresponsibility on the part of the parents. Any parent could have a child sneak out in the middle of the night - that's really beyond their control. The driver of the car wasn't licensed and the kids shouldn't have been out so late, but it seems like the signage at that railroad crossing was deficient - that doesn't make this accident the fault of the railroad, though. These were children who behaved irresponsibly, but no one deserved this tragedy. I'm sure that everyone involved has suffered enough without placing blame among themselves. These families have lost their children and deserve sympathy.
If you read some of the links to other articles on this, the speed limit was posted as 30 Miles Per Hour.
The skid marks were 25 feet long, the car went UNDER the rail car, sheared off the top, and ended up in a ditch on the other side of the rail car. To me, this sounds like the vehicle was traveling over 30 MPH.
Thus, at that speed, would signals have done anything for them?
This is just a bad tale of a lot of bad choices leading to a disaster. But, it is much easier to berate the big bad railroad company instead of youthful ignorance.