Appropriate place and time.
I thought of this song on the rest of the ride home.
It fits, and describes my feelings exactly last night.
There could have been a death, but there wasn't.
I could have been called upon to do something I am not prepared to do.
But I wasn't.

And yet, as I rode home safely, knowing that I helped another human being upon their way, I knew..............
The Lord was just testing me for larger things one day.
He wanted to know what I would do if called upon in a larger way.

I think I passed the test.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

When I saw the headline I thought "Another idiot driver".
But you have to feel sorry for the bloke- the lights & gates didn't activate until after the train had gone through. And if you look at the video he wouldn't have been able to see the train coming as there was a fence or wall of some sort pretty much up to the railway itself. By the time he'd have been able to see it, there was no chance for him to pick up any sped to get off of the crossing.
Passenger train slams through truck at Utah level crossing.

Posting followup to this in the Train Thread. There's enough other stuff going on in this one at the moment. Short version: a railroad signal maintainer has been fired over this.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

When I saw the headline I thought "Another idiot driver".
But you have to feel sorry for the bloke- the lights & gates didn't activate until after the train had gone through. And if you look at the video he wouldn't have been able to see the train coming as there was a fence or wall of some sort pretty much up to the railway itself. By the time he'd have been able to see it, there was no chance for him to pick up any sped to get off of the crossing.
Passenger train slams through truck at Utah level crossing.

Posting followup to this in the Train Thread. There's enough other stuff going on in this one at the moment. Short version: a railroad signal maintainer has been fired over this.

And another thing, it's FedEx, some types of FedEx shipments are just not insured, just like USPS I think.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

...meaning twice as much work for the professionals. .

Simple question!

Define, in your own words, the term, professional.

No google
No wikipedia

Sirius, ADR training includes first aid.

Understandable :-)

Define, in your own words, the term, professional.

In terms of the emergency services

First Responder Paramedic
Road Ambulance crew
Air Ambulance staff
Fire & Rescue crew
Police officers

They will all have had specialist training that members of the public would not have had.

Wrong answer, you were asked define the term Professional not cherry pick.

Again wrong answer.

I'll make it easy for you. What makes a professional "professional"?

What makes a professional "professional"?

Training, qualifications, experience.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Thank you.

@Chris S Something to consider...

This

trumps this:

No I haven't, but it can't be that hard if you managed it.

Something a standard car driver cannot understand.

Define, in your own words, the term, professional.

Qualifications in the subject and the way they " carry " themselfs / act while doing the job / handling the situation they are in ?

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Life is what you make of it :-)

When i'm good i'm very good , but when i'm bad i'm shi#eloads better ;-) In't I " buttercups " p.m.s.l at authoritie !!;-)

Another good answer :-)

I had thought we were discussing what to do at the scene of a serious accident. As such I found this, although it doesn't seem to have any "official" backing that I could see.

The general advice across the board seems to be that if you have first aid training you can attend to minor casualties, and if there is no further risk to yourself, attempt within limits, to keep a more seriously injured victim alive until professional help arrives. Otherwise assist in keeping the site as safe as possible until help arrives.

I have a basic first aid kit in my car and a fire extinguisher, never had to use them yet and I hope I never will have to.

General advice

I very much doubt if there will ever be anything official about what to do because incidents can vary so much in nature.

And yes I say incidents because breakdowns - stray animals etc in the wrong place can end up causing more serious problems.

In some cases (debris on road - breakdown in dangerous place - accident on other side of motorway etc) you are passed it and the only thing that you can do is alert the apropriate emergency services and carry on.

Unfortunately too many people assume that someone else has called it in and don't bother to do so.

In all incidences

LOOK --- Not just at what has happened but at other things that could affect the situation ie. traffic speed and density, visibility, weather etc.

ASSESS --- work out what needs to be done, that may be anything from a simple phone call and carry on going to the need for more serious action.

If the situation requires it

MAKE SAFE --- I have seen more than one minor incident on a major fast road when people start jumping out of vehicles with others trying to get passed the scene at dangerous speeds. Its easy for me - an artic makes a very good road block, but the slowing down or stopping of traffic can stop an incident getting a lot more serious. Please remember that people involved in accidents may not be thinking as straight as they could be and may not be fully aware of their situation or surroundings.

Only after all this has been done start looking at casualties, most of the time the best thing to do is to keep them calm and let them know that help is on the way.

Within the UK most of the time at serious accidents the first service to arrive is the ambulance, they will prefur to be able to get straight to work rather than having to play traffic cop, I have been thanked for providing this assistance on more than one occasion.

Hi-Vis vests and torch are also very useful items, and I always carry on my person one of the smaller swiss army knifes. I have had to use my first aid kit on numerous occasions but never at the scene of an accident.

This post is just general advice from someone that has spent most of his working life on the road and has had some experience in dealing with other peoples accidents.

It does not matter how skillful or professional a driver you are, it still does not stop some other idiot making a mess all over a road just before you get there.

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Kevin

It does not matter how skillful or professional a driver you are, it still does not stop some other idiot making a mess all over a road just before you get there.

True. Most accidents are avoidable.

As was this one

It does not matter how skillful or professional a driver you are, it still does not stop some other idiot making a mess all over a road just before you get there.

True. Most accidents are avoidable.

The first was, not much to be done about the rest, except don't drive under bridges.
http://abc7.com/news/2-killed-after-van-careens-off-101-fwy-overpass-in-hollywood/1738195/

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Let me just reiterate.
I am not trained as a first responder. Just because I build fire trucks for a living does not give me any special skills or insights as to how to respond to a traffic accident, although many of my fellow employees ARE trained first responders and many are volunteer firefighters with such skills.

It was not my intention to do anything heroic that night.
However...........
I did feel the need to stop and render aid if possible or necessary.
In this case, I WAS able to render aid in the form of contacting the authorities to respond to the accident, and they did so very quickly.
The only case I would have physically done anything would be if, for example, the girl's vehicle had started on fire and she was having trouble escaping from it. Or if a part of the car had landed on her and I could safely lift it off. Something that was immediately life threatening.
As it was, thankfully that was not the case, and I was able to limit my involvement to my cell phone call to get professional help on the way.

And I am very thankful that is the way it turned out.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

The 11foot8 guy...........
His specialty? Low bridge crashes.

11foot8.com

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Good job it didn't burst
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/38938615

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Truck blown off Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/virginia/2017/02/09/tractor-trailer-overboard-bay-bridge-tunnel/97698360/

A tractor-trailer went over the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia on Thursday, killing its driver despite an impromptu rescue by the U.S. Navy, officials say.

The driver was identified as 47-year-old Joseph Chen of Greenville, North Carolina, according to Thomas R. Anderson, deputy director of finance and operation for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District. Chen was driving for Evans Transport out of Washington, North Carolina.

Day 2. Maybe wind not a factor

A preliminary investigation shows that Chen was traveling in the right-hand lane and attempted to pass a slower moving passenger car in the left-hand lane, said Thomas R. Anderson, deputy director of finance and operation for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, on Friday. Slowed by another truck in the right lane in front of Chen, the tractor-trailer then went past it in the left lane, through the guardrail and into the water, he said.

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No Wyoming police officers were injured in the recording of this clip

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Knowing the road/area can often get one out of a sticky wicket. We were 2 minutes away from the slip road when it was flashed up on the info boards - J23/24 delays up to 40 minutes. By the time we got to the slip road, J23-26 A14 closed :-(

Carried straight down the A1 to the A428 slip road then all the way into Cambridge. Arrived at Addenbrookes 5 minutes later than normal :-)

Fortunately no serious injuries

People still like arguing with trucks :-(