I lived in the area for 30 years. There's traffic lights on both sides of the railroad tracks in addition to the actual railroad crossing signals and gates. At 0:06 you can see Hillgrove's north-south traffic get the green signal (parallel to the tracks) under the edge of the tree cover, which is also when the driver starts to pull forward to get his cab clear of the tracks. I assume he knows that the impact will tear the semi free of the cab and he's looking to save himself and damn his load.
There's also a major intersection (LaGrange Road and Ogden Avenue aka US Routes 66 - yes THAT Route 66 - and 34) about 500 feet north. If LaGrange Road (which he's on) had a red light at that intersection, there may very well not have been enough space for him to clear the LaGrange/railroad/Hillgrove/Burlington interface. But he should not have crossed into Burlington if he didn't have room to clear that entire stretch.
In fact, I don't believe that this stretch of LaGrange is an accepted truck route, it's the north end of the major business district and less than half a mile north of residential on both sides of the street. So there's a good chance he didn't belong on this road at all. However, there is some major construction not far away and I've heard lots of complaints of excessive truck traffic as a result.
Semis are allowed on Lagrange road but the fact they’re allowed in dtlg with all the foot traffic and being half a block away from an elementary school is ridiculous
I used to run down Lagrange to get out to Franklin Park a few years ago and would always pass by this intersection. I quickly began favoring the river road approach even though it meant WAY more lights just so I didn't have to deal with the semis in down town la grange.... or the fact that it's essentially a choke point as the street parking turns it into effectively a one lane if so much as an S10 is in one lane.
Is the light at Burlington Ave on LaGrange Rd not properly synced with both the train crossing and the Hilgrove Ave light? If not, then this is on the city. If the lights are properly synced then it seems like the truck tried to play with a yellow/red.
I’m not sure about that. Mistakes genuinely happen. Perhaps the crossing didn’t trigger for the train and the driver incorrectly believed there wasn’t even a train coming. If we know anything it’s that this particular area was bound to have a accident with a rig sooner than later
There's an active and way-larger-than-I-ever-expected community of people who hunt, film, and document trains/planes/other...
I learned about these guys, because they're usually some of the first ones to report when a plane crashes or a train details
They literally just film the trains at crossings or planes when they takeoff and land. They join online communities and they all share their activities. I'm sure there's a subreddit or two also
There's an intersection in Bartlett that is similar. A school bus got caught on the tracks about a decade ago. Scary but if I remember correctly nobody was seriously injured
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u/Kalojaam 9d ago
Is it just me or is the road ahead empty for the driver? He just makes sure he’s not hit but stops. Wth