# Spain train wreck caught on video.



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Speed kills. Who hasn't run a train off the tracks with too much speed?
No, I don't anymore but I have. Incredible video. Those poor passengers.
Had to be a nightmare.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/wo.../2013/07/25/spain-rail-derailment-footage.cnn


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Sorry, just noticed I put this video in a model train section.
Maybe GRJ can put it in the proper section. This was certainly
not a model train.


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

Terrible tragedy. Amazing footage.


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## golfermd (Apr 19, 2013)

My thoughts and prayers are for the survivors and families of those lost.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

What an awful experience! I can't imagine the train was supposed to be going at that speed around that curve, I think the speculation that the train was traveling too fast for the section will prove to be correct. At last count, 77 people killed, many more teetering on the edge!


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Terrible.

Did it look to anyone else that it seemed the 2nd car behind
the loco was coming off the rails just as the video began?

Don


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Hard to tell what that dust was, but something was going wrong there!


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

It did look like that second car was Off the rails before the engine tripped.


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## Davidfd85 (Jul 4, 2011)

Now reporting 80 killed and train was going 110 mph, twice the speed limit. It is a terrible accident but a really shocking video.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

No surprise about the speed, the video clearly showed it was smokin' along at a high rate of speed!


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I just heard on the news the engineer has been taken into custody
by the police. He is injured and in a hospital. I don't understand
running 110 mph in a 50 mph section. How does that happen? I
guess that will get you in custody of the police.

Maybe he was playing Casey Jones and was trying to make up time
on the schedule.


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## MBlair (Mar 19, 2013)

I was half asleep at 430 this morning but i think i heard the operator was going to be charged with 79 counts of involuntary manslaughter.


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## brownwolf66 (Jul 9, 2013)

Patrick1544 said:


> It did look like that second car was Off the rails before the engine tripped.


No doubt at all.The second car was off the rails seconds before the engine flew off and hit the wall.Could have happened like a whiplash at such high speed.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Here is a recording of the first cell call for the spain engineer after the wreck.
Sounds like he knows what caused this. He was distracted. Are you kidding me?
He was going 190 kph in an 80 kph zone and he is not paying attention. He knows
this curve. I don't think things will go well for this guy in court.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/wo.../world/2013/09/06/goodman-spain-crash-new.cnn


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Distracted driving, something needs to be done ALL OVER the world.
USA is one of the largest violators of distracted driving. 


At least he sounds remorseful, but if he warned the company about them installing a warning light or some kind of warning to wake up the driver. I say they should have done something too.

Jobs get so routine, yes he was distracted and had an accident but I don't think it was intentional as it was said before. It was claimed that he was just a speed demon trying to make up time, I don't think that is the case here.

He just _ _ _ _ed up! Big time!

I see it all day on the roads, people talking on their cell phones, A BIG DISTRACTION.

Not only car drivers but truck drivers and cops. Cops are trained to talk on their cells while going over 100 mph.....BS!
It seems like every vehicle that I see have their cell to their ears. They are not paying attention to what is going on in front of them and have to jam on the brakes for backups. They can't stay in their lane, swerving all over or missing their exit then stopping in the travel lane to try to back up the road for the exit....DUH.
Or they are sitting at a red light texting then the light changes and they JUST SIT THERE! A lot of lights have cameras to change them to regulate the flow and some idiot is sitting there texting and doesn't move the light will change making you wait for another red light.
That makes me (and others) boil, talk about road rage it makes you want to do this,

http://now.msn.com/cellphone-road-rage-video-from-russia-goes-viral 

Ban all cell phones from working while the vehicle is in motion, I am all for it. The technology is out there to do just this. First offence while in a commercial vehicle is around $2700.00 bucks! Cars vary but I think it is $100 bucks now in NJ. Make it $2500.00 and see how many will stop. Second offence make it $5000.00! Third offence lose of licence and $7500.00 fine!
But there are people who will still do it.
Take half of the fine and use it to pay off our National debt? :smokin:

Each day in the United States, more than 9 people are killed and more than 1,060 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver. (I would say this has increased since the survey was done)
Distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving. Distracted driving can increase the chance of a motor vehicle crash.

There are three main types of distraction:

Visual: taking your eyes off the road;
Manual: taking your hands off the wheel; and
Cognitive: taking your mind off of driving.
Distracted driving activities include things like using a cell phone, texting, and eating. Using in-vehicle technologies (such as navigation systems) can also be sources of distraction. While any of these distractions can endanger the driver and others, texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction.

How big is the problem?
In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010. An additional, 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver in 2011, compared to 416,000 people injured in 2010.

69% of drivers in the United States ages 18-64 reported that they had talked on their cell phone while driving within the 30 days before they were surveyed.
31% of U.S. drivers ages 18-64 reported that they had read or sent text messages or email messages while driving at least once within the 30 days before they were surveyed.

Me...I have a hard time texting while sitting down in an easy chair. 
I don't see how the heck you can do it while driving! :smilie_daumenneg:

I know we have some offenders here on the site who practice this......
PLEASE put the phone down and drive.
IT MAY BE YOUR LIFE YOU SAVE. :smokin:


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I have to agree with all you said ED. Phones are a huge distraction on our roads.
I don't use mine while driving. We really have bad drivers even without the distraction
of a phone. Its not just phones that are a distraction, it could be the car radio,reading
a sign on side of road, or talking to a passenger. Remember the people that can't chew gum and walk at the same time. People just don't pay attention. I see it every day on the road. My wife was hit in the back twice in 1 month and both drivers said they just
zoned out. WTF !!!

No, this engineer was a true idiot. Over 200 passengers and traveling over 120 mph,
and not paying attention. Remorseful yes, but only after he was bit in the a$$. That
curve does look sharp and it had a reduced speed zone accordingly. For a reason. In my
book he is solely responsible for a terrible wreck.

There are very few real accidents. Most wrecks are caused not by accident but by
"stupids". Someone did a stupid. An accident would be a wheel coming off or some
other mechanical event the driver had no control over. That is an accident, the rest are
"stupids".


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I hear you, but even a wheel coming off in my book is not an accident.
For a wheel to come off you should have felt the vibration or something long before it comes off.

Maybe something like blowing the tire would be an accident in my book.
An animal running out in front of you, accident.
Your vehicle suddenly stops running and someone runs into you, accident.

But most accidents like you mentioned, should be called STUPIDS. 
Someone did something stupid and wrecked them and someone else.

Distracted driving is the #1 cause for STUPIDS. :smokin:


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## packnrat (Feb 26, 2014)

what the he11 does distracted driving have to do with this?

is there any why of knowing the exact speed of the tram? 
speed limit for the curve?
speed limit for miles before the curve?
speed limit after the curve?
maint on the cab the driver was in? 
was the spy computer working ?
maint of the track in question?
weather?
was he being pushed by his dispatcher to get there?
who monitors the trams? 
why did they not slow the tram down?

we here only know a smattering of what is was or should have been.
the courts will get the full info on this.
only then will us are chair examiners know what is what. and why.

but like any government they will hang the driver before all the facts are even in.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

You watch the violence of that video and wonder to yourself...Do I REALLY want to ride on the world's fastest train???


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## packnrat (Feb 26, 2014)

as a class A driver we get this shieat rammed down out throats all the time.

try staying awake with the hrs we do and how boring the rd can be.
moving around in the truck helps keep the blood flowing, eating a snack, drinking some water/coffee/etc. works to keep you alert.
try just sitting in your cubical for eight hrs with no getting up or talking to another (they can not talk to you) no radios. nothing but sit and work. only a bathroom break every couple three hrs. not as required by your body.

i see the result of people doing stupid things. it is sad.
NO cop is any better at driving while on the phone then any reg person...ban cops from using there phones while driving or remove the law completely.
after all cops should not be above the laws they enforce on us.
as a trucker we need to call people and receive calls from our dispatchers, (mostly cause they keep changing our work hrs) so need to let drivers bid on work for the next day. or just asking us were we are..even tho all the trucks have a computer gps thing in them.
no not saying i should be allowed on the phone. just distracted driving is many things far more than on the phone.

end rant.

but as to speed. one does not need to go as fast as that tram to get hurt bad.
in a accident. there is the body moving forward. to the restraint stop. then your inside keep moving till smashing up to the front of your body, then all bounced to the rear. and forward and then to the rear.
this how your insides get all messed up in a crash...

but who had a seat belt on in that crash?

then look into your car/truck, how much junk is laying around? all are projectiles to hurt you.
even just that ink pin can be a impaler to some part of a body.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

packnrat said:


> what the he11 does distracted driving have to do with this


At the time they were saying that he distracted because he was on the phone and forgot to slow down. And when he realized it too late to slow down, that is what distracted driving had to do with it. Though he was "driving" a train.



packnrat said:


> as a class A driver we get this shieat rammed down out throats all the time.
> 
> try staying awake with the hrs we do and how boring the rd can be.
> moving around in the truck helps keep the blood flowing, eating a snack, drinking some water/coffee/etc. works to keep you alert.
> ...


Was your intent on posting this directed at what I said?
You do know that distracted driving is a lot more than just talking on the phone?

You think I am picking on truck drivers? Come drive the east coast especially up here in the North east and you will see what I am talking about. If that call is important pull over and make it. The life you save may be your own. 
Soon everyone will have to have electronic logs, we have been running them for years. No need to talk on the phone as change of orders or new orders are sent in a message over the machine. And you can't answer unless you are stopped. 
I have been using the CB all my life but won't use the phone because of the big fine. Hauling Hazmats 1st offence is up near $2700 bucks! I would be willing to bet that for every 100 vehicles (of all kinds) that pass me only 1 is not on the phone.
You might be able to talk on it and drive but a lot can't. Talk is one thing, I don't know how anyone can text and drive!:retard:

I have been rolling on 18 wheels for over 45 years.

When I first hauled hazmats in a box trailer there were no placards at all. I was 17 and had to take 2 courses to graduate high school and getting out at 10 am then going and driving the truck. I was making more money then the teachers! :smokin:
I had class A before they even had class A. When I started driving you just had to have a drivers license, there was no others. Been hauling hazmats most of my life with a short time off hauling new cars. All the drums just had a weight stamped on it, that was it. 
Red drums were flammable you knew not to smoke by them.
Black drums contained corrosives if they were wet you knew to wear rubber gloves.
Blue drums were chlorinated you knew if they were wet not to breath the fumes.
Orange drums were combustibles you could smoke by them but be careful. 

I then had to take a break from driving for a few years.....I won the lottery. 

I then hauled a flatbed with all kinds of RR stuff for around 5 years. Rails, switch points tie plates, timbers,ties, all kinds of RR track repair equipment. Anything we could get our hands on. We specialized in old stuff and fixed it up for delivery to scenic RR's.

I then learned how to be a tanker yanker, slip slop away. Been driving single bores for a long time. Except for around 6 years hauling new cars, I have been yanking tanks around for a long time. 

Distracted driving causes a lot of accidents, being distracted from what your suppose to be doing causes a lot of accidents not only on the road by in many different work scenarios. 
Too many to list all of the different ways distracted accidents happen. :smokin:

By the way eating is number 6 on the list of 10 Deadliest Driving Distractions.
Talking on the phone is #2.

Number one? 

Drum roll........................................


Generally distracted or “lost in thought”

Detaching from reality can prove useful when recharging creative energies or simply taking a respite from a hectic day. However, driving doing so while driving can be fatal.
Driving "in a fog" or seemingly on autopilot is, above all, the riskiest driving behavior cited in Erie's report. According to the insurer, daydreamers accounted for a whopping 62 percent of distracted drivers involved in road fatalities.

Driving in a fog,:laugh: 
That is how most drive up here in the north east. 
But they do it while texting on the phone, while they are eating and putting on makeup and brushing their hair, while they are tuning the radio and lighting a cigarette, and adjusting the GPS.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

I've been driving fire trucks for 38 years. I spent 26 years driving trucks for the WY Dept of Transportation. I don't understand the difference, but I can drive all day long while talking on a 2-way radio, and not be distracted. But the second I try to talk on the phone while driving, my mind drifts off and I drive like an idiot. So, the phone gets unused when I'm behind the wheel.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Fire21 said:


> I've been driving fire trucks for 38 years. I spent 26 years driving trucks for the WY Dept of Transportation. I don't understand the difference, but I can drive all day long while talking on a 2-way radio, and not be distracted. But the second I try to talk on the phone while driving, my mind drifts off and I drive like an idiot. So, the phone gets unused when I'm behind the wheel.


I am the same way, I don't drive like an idiot but do find myself being distracted from driving. Though that is when I have to hold the phone to talk, I had a hands free when I was hauling the new cars and it was different. 
Talking on the CB is no problem whatsoever.
They want to ban that too.


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## packnrat (Feb 26, 2014)

no big ed i do not believe you are saying anything bad about drivers.
here in ca even the cb will get you a cell phone ticket. $2700. for truckers.
many out there can not even drive right....and they are not distracted. 

just there are better things for our traffic cops to be doing than playing nanny to people who just do not care.
yes i do agree with staying off the phone texting etc.
just not when cops can break the same laws they enforce on us.

hell this year my employer is adding spy cams to all the tractors to spy on us 24-7.
lets see trucks have gps, computer logs, black boxes, the stores spy on us, write reports (even lie ) about us. there are even people driving around spying on us. 
with no cams they know what we do, even if we were on the phone, your employer can get your cell phone records. hwell:
how can we get our jobs done if we have to do more to appease our anti-employee employers then do our jobs? get to worry more about how we look/get it done then getting the job done.

all i was really saying is lets here all the facts about the train wreck before we hang the driver.

something did go very wrong, but lets give the guy the benefit of the doubt first.
if he did wrong, then yes do something.
but not to the point of hurting others for his mistake if he did foul up.

on the phone?
texting? (why does spell check say this is spelled wrong?).
sleeping? (over worked?)
pass-out? (medical problem?)
drunk?
drugs?
day dreaming?
having sex? (yes people do die having sex while trying to drive cars, trucks, boats, etc).
other?

failure of the on board computers?....yes johnny computers do (*), and bad at times.

as for distracted driving....for me as i can only say for my self. 
no tickets on my record in over 25 years, (not even a fix it ticket) no chargeable accidents ( to me ) in just under 40 years. (i have been hit a couple times during this time). 
now age 55, i do not push it very much, regular is better than fast.

at the risk of sounding like a prideful fool, i do take pride in doing my job right, and my record proves it.

will the jury see if the driver of the train had a good record? or a scofflaw kinda guy?
signal lights or not...did he even know this route? there are some roads i drive that will bite you if you have never been there before. but that is another thing.
.
.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Took you long enough to reply! 

Installing cameras to watch you? Moon them!  
Or mounted so they are watching the road?

I would welcome a dash mounted camera recording at all times, put rear and side cameras on too. ( I have been thinking about putting in a dash recorder with my own bucks :smokin Hell they can have a drone follow me, I don't care. I don't do stupid things and if someone else does and drags me into it I would welcome evidence showing it was not my fault.
You know how it is today........blame the truck driver! Now that is not to say that truck drivers are all angels, I have seen my share of truck drivers who shouldn't be operating 80.000 lbs vehicles. 
A lot of them I would not even allow to drive my wheelbarrow! 
And for driving while talking on the phone I would say over half of them are on the phone too!

I have seen so many crazy things on the road I would welcome evidence that I did not cause it if I became tangled up in the wreck. 
I have not had any kind of tickets for 34 years. No accidents.I hammer down pedal to the metal all times, I CAN'T DRIVE 55.  I like to be leader of the pack so I can watch the accidents happen behind me. That is kind of hard to do because even if I could go 85 cars would pass me like I am sitting still!  
There are too many cops out on the roads today anyway, I like to keep my license. Many years ago you might see 1 cop in 400 miles at night, now they are all over the place sometimes even in the early morning hours.:smokin:
We have the electronic logs that they monitor. On a 65 mph road I like to cruise around 75 but I stay right near 70. My speedometer is 1 mile an hour off so at 70 I am doing 69 mph. My company allows you 9 mph over what the speed limit is. So on a nice empty stretch of road I set the cruise at 75 knowing that I am doing 74. Going across Pa on rt 80 in the early morning hours there is no traffic and most of the cops are having donuts and coffee before they start hitting their fishing holes. So all you have to watch out for is deer. I saw a black bear last week that was ready to cross the highway, must have been a young one as it wasn't too big. Only the second bear I have seen on the roads in all my years driving. I have seen two dead ones that got hit. One of them must have been huge by the size of the fur pile left behind. I guess they stay away from the big roads.
So say going through NYC the speed limit is 50 I am doing 59. Though the roads are so bumpy going through the Cross Bronx expressway most of the time I am under 50. And with the bumper to bumper traffic your lucky to go 20!

The train driver says this, (copy & paste)

Francisco Jose Garzon is heard telling a colleague he was travelling at 190km/h (118 mph) instead of 80km/h and became distracted.
He also said he had previously complained that the bend, where the accident happened, was "inhuman".
El Pais newspaper obtained a recording of the phone call Mr Garzon made to activate the emergency protocol after the Alvia train smashed into the wall, caught fire, and derailed on 24 July.

"There must be many injured, [the train] has turned over, I can't get out of the cabin," he is heard telling a colleague at Madrid's central station.

During the conversation, Mr Garzon repeatedly says "poor passengers", adding: "I hope no-one has died."

He also admitted going too fast at the time of the crash.

"I got distracted and I [was meant] to be going at 80, but I was going at 190," Mr Garzon said.

Wreckage of the train near Santiago de Compostela (27 July)
The train was said to be travelling at more than twice the speed limit
"I had already mentioned to the safety people that this [curve] was dangerous, that one day something like this could happen."


I can't find an update this was from 5 September 2013, BBC news.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23982566

So as you can see on the list of 10 Deadliest Driving Distractions above. The #1 cause is,

#1 Generally distracted or “lost in thought”

Detaching from reality can prove useful when recharging creative energies or simply taking a respite from a hectic day. However, driving doing so while driving can be fatal.
Driving "in a fog" or seemingly on autopilot is, above all, the riskiest driving behavior cited in Erie's report. According to the insurer, daydreamers accounted for a whopping 62 percent of distracted drivers involved in road fatalities.

This guy admits to it....he was driving in a foggy state of mind and when he woke up it was too late. 
He made a very big mistake. He must feel terrible, you will probably hear about him sometime committing suicide. I would bet not a minute goes by without him thinking about what he did.


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## mikek (Dec 29, 2013)

I agree with the 'fog' theory. After driving a few hours, I start to get hypnotized by the road. Something about the tedium. Very hard to shake out of. I used to be better, but as I get older, it gets worse. My wife would like to take road trips, but it looks like trains for us; gee, that's too bad......pullman, diner, club car...it's all so rough.


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## packnrat (Feb 26, 2014)

i do not get here every day.
but yes some otr drivers should just park and go home (walk home that is).
over a year back one otr oo took out three tractors in our yard (not counting his).
fuel all over the place. 
and this was below twenty mph. :smilie_auslachen:




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