Train hits truck, injuring 16 in Hyogo

National Feb. 12, 2013 - 07:00PM JST ( 16 )

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16 Comments

1

zichiFeb. 12, 2013 - 07:55PM JST

I thinks its just west of Himeji?

Photo http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/zoom/20130212-OYT9I00844.htm
2

Vernie JefferiesFeb. 12, 2013 - 08:30PM JST

I just saw some news footage about this accident. Looks very scary if you was riding in those first few cars. I noticed some cars in an adjacent parking lot received some damage, plus some damage to a building close to the tracks.
3

Jason GatewoodFeb. 12, 2013 - 08:32PM JST

That's right. It was a Ltd. Express bound for Hanshin Umeda station in Osaka. This line merges with the Hanshin main line in Kobe.
-4

smithinjapanFeb. 12, 2013 - 09:24PM JST

'“According to people in the neighbourhood, the trailer stalled at the crossing and the express train crashed into it,” the paper said.'

If they knew the trailer had stalled, why did no one push an emergency button? Or did they and it was too late? There are not enough details. It sounds like the train ran into the trailer at more or less full tilt, but the trailer would have had to have stalled half a minute or so before the train collided with it -- unless it crashed through the train crossing.

In any case, glad no one died, and I hope those injured recover soon.
3

wipeoutFeb. 12, 2013 - 10:04PM JST

If they knew the trailer had stalled, why did no one push an emergency button?

I know you would have. Wouldn't you?
-2

Elbuda MexicanoFeb. 12, 2013 - 11:32PM JST

Just saw the Japanese tv news, SOMEBODY DID press the emergency button but it seemed to have failed, so there goes your high tech Kansai technology!
1

JaymannFeb. 13, 2013 - 03:05AM JST

you see it all the time... impatient tossers idling over the crossing. Just deserts for the truck driver methinks.
8

FadamorFeb. 13, 2013 - 03:20AM JST

Just reinforces the rule that you don't cross railroad tracks unless you can definitely get clear of them. Truck driver is 100% at fault for pulling up behind a car at a stop light while leaving his trailer hanging over the tracks. Idiot.
0

Reza RahmanFeb. 13, 2013 - 08:45AM JST

The train crash happened East of Himeji not West. Sanyo is a private company which runs services going East to Kobe.
The traffic ligh system in Himeji, like many places in Japan,is stupid. There are lights every 200 or 300 metres!!! I am glad no one died.
3

lucabrasiFeb. 13, 2013 - 09:24AM JST

The traffic light system in Himeji, like many places in Japan,is stupid. There are lights every 200 or 300 metres!!!

Sounds pretty standard to me. Is there a major city anywhere in the world where this isn't true?
-2

Dennis BauerFeb. 13, 2013 - 09:52AM JST

The thing that surprises me in Hi-tech Japan is that they have no traffic lights that are "communicating" they all have their own little routine (try getting from a to b in a car, with some intelligent traffic light and sensors one could reduce gasoline usage if you did not have to stop every few 100 meters), never changing its program, this accident could have been avoided, if there were sensors detecting the car and giving the light near the track the priority. Or the truck driver checking his back mirror!
-5

BuzzBFeb. 13, 2013 - 10:44AM JST

Dennis ... it's called NIH. "Not Invented Here". Dynamic signals that can think for humans are not allowed here. Besides they would save too much gasoline.
-1

smithinjapanFeb. 13, 2013 - 11:02AM JST

wipeout: "I know you would have. Wouldn't you?"

Absolutely. Surprised you're asking given that I raised the question myself. A trailer is usually pretty large, and if it stalled on the tracks while crossing I'm assuming one set of gates or the next could not properly close (if they had them at all, and if not that is a completely different and larger problem). If they could not properly close, there should have been an alarm raised quite a while before the collision, resulting in much less damage/injury, if any.
-1

zichiFeb. 13, 2013 - 11:43AM JST

It was one of those car loader, the single type that haul away busted cars so the back is quite low making it possible for both barriers to be down but I don't know if that's what happened. Better protection at rail crossing would be a solution but given the cost to update them all?
1

wipeoutFeb. 13, 2013 - 06:05PM JST

Absolutely. Surprised you're asking given that I raised the question myself. A trailer is usually pretty large, and if it stalled on the tracks while crossing I'm assuming one set of gates or the next could not properly close (if they had them at all, and if not that is a completely different and larger problem). If they could not properly close, there should have been an alarm raised quite a while before the collision, resulting in much less damage/injury, if any.

Yeah, thanks for clarifying what you think might have happened.
1

Star-vikingFeb. 14, 2013 - 03:31PM JST

This was covered on the news a few days ago - only the back of the truck was under the barrier, and not far enough in the crossing to hit the train. The driver, whether from panic or a desire to avoid public shaming, dropped the ramps that allow cars to be loaded on the flat-bed - so he could drive the truck out from the crossing without damaging the barriers. The ramps extended across the track, train hit them, and the rest is history.

If the truck driver had used his head this would have been a non-story.