The reports listed above by Willbridge indicated that either a conductor or engineer did suffer from "life-threatening" injuries and was evacuated to a different hospital than the 3 passengers with "minor" injuries. I heard on the news yesterday (Tuesday) that it was the engineer who had suffered "life-threatening" injuries. It would make more sense that it would be an engineer than a conductor, doesn't it?
Amtrak trains vs pedestrians or motor vehicles; accidents/fatalities
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Depends. The conductor could have been between cars.... But, yes, it was the engineer in this case. I've heard that it was non-life threatening, so maybe by the time he got to the hospital for further evaluation it was determined to be non-life threatening.
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A little Googling reveals that the minimum required liability coverage for a commercial truck carrying non-hazardous cargo greater than 10K pounds is only $750K. This level was set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Agency in 1980 and has not been increased since then. Adjusted for inflation it would be almost $2.8M in today's dollars. $750K is shockingly low and won't come anywhere near the cost of this wreck. A single Siemens Charger alone is around $11M.
Minimum liability coverage in general is completely inadequate to cover the predicted costs of accidents. Maybe a little more can be squeezed out of the defendant in a bankruptcy proceeding, but that's pretty much it, unless you have a business or are an individual with assets to supplement the coverage. We could require higher amounts of minimum liability coverage, of course, but then more drivers would operate without coverage at all, which is enough of a problem already. Unfortunately, that means we have in effect a 'victim pays' system in effect.
As for liability the tractor-trailer could be just a lone rancher transporting his/her herds raw milk to a dairy for processing. Not necessarily a trucking company or processing plant. Or even one of many independent haulers in the area. The crash occurred 22 miles from me. Actually saw #6 go by that night.
The Denver Post carried a more detailed article. The truck and driver were under contract to Dairy Farmers of America. The driver is from Wainwright, Alaska and his passenger is from Commerce City, Colorado. Colorado State Patrol stated that the truck did not stop at the crossing.
https://www.denverpost.com/2024/01/30/amtrak-train-derails-hit-truck-weld-county/
(This may be placed behind a paywall soon.)
This and additional information in the article hints - but does not say - that this was a training run for a new driver.
I have heard that two of 3 employees have been released from the hospital. And the 3rd one does have serious injuries.Depends. The conductor could have been between cars.... But, yes, it was the engineer in this case. I've heard that it was non-life threatening, so maybe by the time he got to the hospital for further evaluation it was determined to be non-life threatening.
KMGH (Scripps TV) actually did some research on this crossing. It has two previous collisions in FRA records. One was in 2018, the other in 1984. Both involved trucks. There were no fatalities or injuries. Weld County, which has discussed seceding from Colorado and joining Wyoming, is the leading county in Colorado for grade crossing accidents.
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