There is no doubt that sleepy drivers are as dangerous as drunken drivers and have almost as many accidents. Another possible explanation is the monotony of driving often causes drivers not to pay attention as they drive: the so called “white line fever”. But a common problem at grade crossing is people speeding up to beat the train to the crossing. An optical illusion makes large items such as jumbo jets or trains look like they are going slower than they are at a distance. This misjudging of the speed of a train causes many people to be killed at grade crossings even when gates and warning bells are working. A greater mystery to me is how did 2 Superliner Cars get destroyed by fire from this accident? More people are killed by fire than collisions in major accidents. It is hard to believe that diesel fuel from this truck could have caused so much fire.The only thing that might be flammable would be the upholstery in the Superliner Cars. We may not have answers for over a year while this accident is under investigation. NB July 11, 2011
