Keep your eye on the Oncoming FedEx Semi-trailer

We’ve seen enough horror scenes in movies of cars being run over by trains to rank it as one of the worst situations to find ourselves in in a vehicle. And we rely on the railroad crossing gates/arms and warning signals to prevent us from getting into said situation.

So did the driver of a FedEx semi in Utah. As seen in this dashcam footage, the semi was pulling trailers laden with packages, and was making its way very slowly, very carefully in the blizzard. But see what happens to it as it crosses the railway tracks, just as another semi passes safely by:

The crossing arms were raised and there were no warning lights - it was supposed to have been safe to cross. The irony of the situation is that the arms dropped seconds after the collision.

The Utah Transit Authority is investigating the system malfunction and the culprit most suspected is the blizzard that the place has been experiencing throughout the week.

Sensors further down the tracks are usually triggered by the trains, which then signals the crossing arms to drop and the warning lights to come on; it is likely that the snow and ice had obstructed the sensor. Even so, there is a fail-safe mechanism that was supposed to kick in when signals are lost, but even that failed, evidently.

The train had missed the cab, but completely decimated the two trailers it was dragging, and their contents, which is trying very hard to look on the bright side. Although it must have been quite a shock, no one was hurt except there will be a lot of angry people missing their packages.