Last Thursday, as Dawn and I waited for the O Street RR crossing arms to be raised, we watched a young man on a bicycle lift the arm and move inside. Almost immediately, the train sped through with him standing there straddling his bike. Had there been an extension on one of the rail cars, it surely would have decapitated him! The second the train had passed, he crossed the tracks, rode around the opposite crossing arm, crossed in front of traffic and peddled on his merry way, probably imagining that the 20 seconds he’d just saved would make all the difference in his busy day. And the “coolness” factor! Let’s not forget that! What was he thinking?
So when I saw this PSA video on RT Driver’s site, I thought it worth sharing. As Jon points out, “Next time you ponder walking or driving around the crossing arms at a train crossing, remember that you never know what train is coming from what direction…”