A Texas man in New Mexico was on his way back to his home near San Antonio when his trip came to a sudden halt, leaving his truck in utter disrepair and turned onto its side near the freight train it collided with. The man admitted that he was aware of the train and saw it from quite some distance but never saw any signals indicating he should stop.
Apparently, he believed he must be safe and continued on, but finally coming to the realization that he was going to collide with the train if he didn’t stop. However, it was too late to fully stop, and the man was lucky to not suffer worse damages than some initially reported pain. Time will tell if any, as of yet, unknown issues may arise from the collision with the train.
It may seem fairly obvious that if you see a freight train making its way down the tracks, you would stop. It may even seem silly that he reportedly didn’t even attempt to stop until it was too late. However, how many of us can say we have never been on a trip involving significant road travel and haven’t experienced a bit of highway hypnosis? With the sun in your face and the cool air from the A/C, add to that perhaps a rural route and the lulling repetitive sounds of a freight train that doesn’t appear to be moving as fast as it is. Situations like that may leave you in such a place that you rest your trust in the existence of proper railroad signals and never assume your path would take you directly into the train just over that hill, or around that turn.
We simply don’t know enough about the circumstances to speculate, but one thing we can all agree on is that the man was lucky to be alive in such a situation. However, why were there no signals?
If you were injured in an accident involving a commercial vehicle, semi truck or train, you may benefit from the counsel of a Texas attorney well-versed in personal injury and the pursuit of compensation in the event your accident was all or in part the responsibility of someone else.
Source: LubbockOnline.com, “Texas man escapes serious injury in truck collision with train,” July 21, 2016