That was a close one

[ColonelPanic]

So I'm driving yesterday afternoon to go pick up the guy who I carpool with... In my little dump of a town, there are plenty of railroad tracks everywhere, and unfortunately half of the signals don't work properly. I have to cross two sets of tracks each day when I get home, more often than not, the stupid lights are flashing with no train present (and this crossing has no gates.) One little old lady was hit by a friggin' train there not too long ago, luckily she made it out ok... Which this stuff really doesn't do well for my phobia, any time I cross train tracks, I envision a train smacking me right in the side and cringe... My mental state is another story... lmaoOf course all of the crossing signals down by the carpool buddy's place have been flashing for over 2 days now and still were this morning. I was crossing at one location with a gate which was up, but not fully. I stopped to make sure I wasn't going to get creamed - not a train in sight, and didn't see the gate moving at the time. I crossed the tracks and heard a big BOING!!! I instantly recognized that sound, none other than my ham radio antenna that I have mounted to the right rear quarter window smacking something. Checked the rearview mirror on the right, and sure enough something hit it, as it was swaying violently to and fro. I hear this a lot when I'm around tree branches, but never in a situation such as this with, uh, no trees around...I then checked my rearview mirror and saw a car behind me swing out into the left side of the street in order to get around the now completely down gate. That stupid gate came down in right in the middle of when I was driving over the crossing! I stopped to check for damage, didn't find any, didn't even bend the ham antenna. But that was close, I could have had the heck tore out of my lovely Vibe! If I took just a second longer to get through the crossing, it probably would have done some damage to the roof or even the hatch if the gate came down when the car was in just the right place...On the way home, I saw that same gate just go up and down on its own... Obviously this town doesn't give a crap that their signals are faulty, they have been doing this for as long as I can remember, and nobody has done anything about it. Really putting lives at risk. Sheesh. That's just kinda freaky. You just never know what to expect when you get behind the wheel, you know? Watch it out there, it's a jungle...

[GMJAP]

On my way to work this a.m., I crossed the tracks on my way - signals flashing but no train in sight. The gate, or a portion of it, was sticking out at a 45 degree angle. The rest was lying off to the side of the road about 15 feet ahead.Somebody wasn't as lucky as you!

[Psychovibe]

These signals are the responsibility of the railroad not the city. If they are faulty they may not have been reported or not enough times to get fixed. The saying the squeeky wheel gets greased would work if enough time was devoted to complaints. There should be an emergency number on one of the control boxes or find a railroad worker sometime somewhere and get the number. If they don't know they can't fix it. (trying to give them the benefit of the doubt they don't know). HA HA.

[POLO]

You remind me something like that at last summer.I was cruising on a hot days,when all the car of front of me stop,was lot's of trafic,so i was almost immobilise almost on the middle of the railroad,and guess what,the light flash and the gate start to go down.So,on the middle i try to horn that the car on my front go forward to let me space to pass the intersection,but the moron didn't move,so i go backward,the same thing.Then the gate go down and tough my roof,(i guess my cross bar i didn't see any paint damage on the roof) and i see the train coming fast,so i start to take serious i drive my (removed) forward and i just roll on the pavement to save my (removed).

[Mavrik]

I would have been pounding on that idiot's window I lived to tell the tale, come on your stuck behind him, honking the horn with a train coming and he won't move? He'd hear more then my horn.

[POLO]

Yes,same to,but in situation i was,it was more to react what to do,and fast.