Amtrak vs. Car @Ashland, VA. 

It never ceases to amaze me how someone will try to cross the tracks AFTER the lights and barriers have already gone down.

I asked myself "why is that train getting bigger?" And then it hits me!

Let us see what we got here......Flashing lights, crossing bells, and gates in the horizontal position, and a trains bell......hmmmm could that mean a train is right there, I guess that driver never learned that at driver's ed

If a train sees a car stuck and you think it will stop? You're right, it will stop...Only a mile after it has hit you. Stop, trains can't. God, I love that video quote.

So, instead of 1 car having to wait for 30 seconds, now everyone have to wait for many minutes

Repeat after me: THE. TRAIN. ALWAYS. WINS. :D

To all the people complaining about the quiet zone stuff: There were flashing lights, bells and closed barriers to warn the driver. If you can't see any of these you are clearly not paying enough attention to the road to be allowed to drive a car. And also, in Europe and alot of other places around the world trains don't even honk the horn when nearing a crossing. The crossing bells even go silent once the barriers are closed. And you know what? It works perfectly fine. It doesn't cause accidents at all because normal healthy people have enough warning with just flashing lights and closed barriers. If this works all around the world it should also work in America.

Red lights flashing crossing gates down train coming up fast what part of stop dont you understand!!!

They should make these big giant flashing lights and bars that come down if a train is coming. If that’s not enough, maybe add some kind of sound to the train. I mean, who could miss all of that?

"Soooooo, how do so many vehicles end up in junkyards?" "Well son, when you mix Amtrak trains with inattentive drivers......."

From the looks of things, I don't even think a train horn would have phased this guy.

There's some real bright people in this world.

Ashland never disappoints.

The train must have been in the driver's blindspot. /s

I’ve noticed that some people cannot grasp the concept of having a train running between lanes on a divided road. I live in Charlotte and we have a light rail line that runs down a major thoroughfare, completely grade separated, but there are crossings like this one to allow for left turning traffic. They’re far more common on the northern line than the southern for a variety of reasons, mostly due to space and a lack of an existing right of way like the south line. Regardless, the number of cars struck on the northern line is considerably more for this reason.

That was a really satisfying crunch.

Not surprised. The town I grew up in had a small switching yard and a little switch engine that would trundle around at about three miles per hour, and people would still manage to get hit at the crossings at least three or four times a year.

Who wants to bet that someone at the CSX dispatch office has the stream of this crossing on in the control room, just because people do this?

Famous last words, "you can beat it that train ain't coming fast".

Wow, that gate was fully down for nearly 8 seconds before they hit it, how important was the text they are reading?

Man, Ashland seems to have all the excitement...

I was siting in the park thinking about how the frizbie got closer and closer... and then it hit me!

I love hearing the satisfying thump of the train hitting the car

Ah, Natural selection. So wonderful.

I would love to have that person on the news and explain why she felt that was a good decision

That’s not my mouse cursor!

My guess is that was an expensive text message being sent

I think there's a reason they have a camera in this exact spot lol

Probably distracted driving...texting, on the phone, yelling at the kids.....oblivious.

This is a good example of natural selection.

The driver doesn't go around the gate. He hits it. Judging by the shadow he may have been blinded by sun or maybe texting or just not paying attention at all.

Car said; I think I can, I think I can. Train said: yeah nope....

I've seen all the stuff written below about quiet zones. Which is all beside the point, It all comes down to the car driver driving 'without due care and attention'!

Oh, look at the pretty flashing red lights, dear! Oh, but why did they put those barriers in the way? Now we have to drive aroun*SMASH!!

This is why idiot drivers die.

0:39 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. That sound.... I died.

This is why this makes me mad, people have been watching trains hit cars for over a century, and PEOPLE STILL NEVER LEARN WHEN THIS HAPPENS. USE COMMON SENSE PEOPLE.

I'll bet that SUV driver was texting or yakking on a cell phone.

WHAT IS IT WITH THIS ONE CROSSING AND THE EVOLUTIONARY CLOCK TICKING BACKWARDS?

the people who turn onto the tracks are more amusing.

da let me keep going, who put those sticks with the flashing lights in the way?

" Ou-eey Gueey was a worm...a mighty worm was he. He sat upon a railroad track, a train he did not see!" 😂

*"dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die, dumb ways to diiiie so many dumb ways to die"* - brought to you by Metro Trains.

I saw the whole thing officer! That train swerved into the car! Yes, yes it's my sarcasm spouting off again.

Wow, that car went under the gate! The driver didn't even try to stop.

Train driver was like 'let it roll until the railroad crossing is free'... didn't work so well

After watching this it appears to be inattention while driving. Doesn't mater if it was a stop sign, school bus, pedestrian cross walk, or stopped car in front of you. NOT paying attention. The only other thing I will accept for this accident is the brakes failed.

Final score: Amtrak 1 SUV 0

Now everyone is held up because someone was too impatient to wait for a few seconds.

“Why didn’t it hit me like a sedan?” Officer: “You tried to cut off a train..”

It's either high way or die way. Stop, look, and listen at all railroad crossings

Crossing guard was down at least 10 seconds before he ran it. Not to mention he didn't even try going AROUND the guard he hit it going through. He's got an SUV though. Pretty much makes him invincible

when I was in drivers ed the teacher told the class that when there is and accident involving a train there is a 50% chance that the train hit the car. the other 50% of accidents involving trains is the car hitting the train.

Love the sound of those brakes.

An old man told me over 50 year’s ago that a car is a potential lethal weapon but trucks and trains are even more so Hopefully the car driver’s insurance company refuses to pay for the damages to the car let alone the train

Not only was the gate already down, the driver actually hit the gate before the train!

The car hit the gate, so I'm thinking that there was a different problem than just trying to beat the train.

Newton's First Law of physics: a body once set in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. The train driver applied the brakes, yet the train took some distance to come to a complete stop. Trains with their great mass require considerable time to stop. The driver cannot slam on the brakes and have the vehicle "stop on a dime."

I will always nominate situations like this for the Darwin Awards. JUST STOP AT THE FLIPPING CROSSING!!! The train is much faster than you think.

To those who don't understand, flashing red lights and boom gates means STOP! Don't ever try to beat the lights, it is utter foolishness!!🇦🇺🇺🇸

And this is WHY trains use their horns!

on this week's episode of car vs train, the car's idiot driver thinks they can outrun the Amtrak Genesis. turns out they can't, and their SUV gets totaled for it. winner: train.

I understand why people are impatient enough to go around the arms but you'd think they'd at least be a hint to look both ways before crossing

The train is always gonna win!

She got what she learned, STOP at ALL RAILROAD CROSSINGS WHEN ACTIVATED. I hope her Insurance doesn’t cover the damages for her own doing...

There should be federal laws for this kind of stuff. You jump the tracks. Lose your license.

see this is why you don't put quiet zones over here. Cause more accidents

Distracted... The gate would have smacked them right in the eyes.

He has to be blind because that train was right there

never try to beat a train

I live near the Edgebrook station in Chicago. About a year or so I saw a helicopter hovering and traffic on a street parallel to the tracks backed up. Turns out a Hiawatha Service train hir a semi with a dump trailer. Made a mess of the truck!!

the train always wins always. wins.

I love the trains you bringed to me.

I think the train won that argument!

I think the driver is blind if he can't stop at a crossing

texting at the wheel, level PRO

People that run the gates for trains just has their license taken away permanently

I saw a swat van on the left at the start And I hope the person can recover from the train hit

Pretty sure the sun was right in the Driver's eyes. Look at the direction of the shadows.

I wonder how these people make it through life it's a wonder keep it up and have a train smashing day

Trains to non railfans: an object that blocks me on my commute to work

Probably texting. Far more important than actually driving the car.

So why don't the crossings have double gates? 1. Cost twice as much. 2. Drivers will stop on the tracks, then the second gate comes down and they just sit there straddling the rails. In some countries ramp barricades come up out of the pavement. If a vehicle hits the barricade it will stop. Coming from the track, the vehicle's weight will push the ramp side down, allowing the vehicle to clear the tracks.

Never mind the barriers, lights, etc... surely they would have seen the HUGE FREAKIN' TRAIN coming in from the side at 30-ish mph? There's two different roads coming in from the right as well, if anyone was about to run those intersections they'd have been a sitting duck for being t-boned also.

I told you giving stevie wonder a drivers license was a bad idea!

Once saw a woman driving with a cell phone and cigarette in one hand and a Big Mac in the other hand.

Let me guess: a 300 year old driver in the SUV?

A seemingly worthwhile infrastructure project would be a railroad viaduct in Ashland. Hopefully we'll someday have a government that is interested in that sort of thing.

..."and the winner is" .....

Like they always say, stop, look, listen, at least in the UK but it applies any with train crossings.

This is why Quiet Zones need to be abolished.

They say if you see a train coming don’t try to beat the train like that scene in gta 5 prologue

People think that everyone should stop for them when they cross thing, but when it comes to a train, its impossible to stop it like a car

Thank you for sharing this. Couldn't show Fire Department and EMS response? Would show how long it took them to arrive. Outcome of vehicle occupant(s)?

Ugh one person's desire to save 30 seconds ends up costing everyone including themselves hours.

I was hoping for more camera angles.

Finally this episode

Train engineers should carry a calling card they can place under the wiper .. they got places they gotta be...

Using a planetarium program reveals that on 2017-05027 at 07:48 at Ashland, VA, the sun would be at Azimuth 87 degrees and at Altitude 32.5 degrees. The street on which the driver was travellling has at the intersection an azimuth of about 85 degrees. Thus he would indeed be driving close enough to be considered "directly into the sun". However, at that altitude, is SHOULD NOT have been a problem. Well at least that would be my judgement.

I have no sympathy for drivers like that. You can clearly tell it's railroad tracks that could be active at anytime and you can see the flashing lights and the gate coming down