A pair of crashes that involved Amtrak trains colliding with smaller passenger vehicles resulted in severe injuries and multiple deaths.
Sunday saw an Amtrak train carrying 85 passengers approaching an intersection in Brentwood, California, only to collide with a passenger vehicle. Three occupants of the smaller vehicle were killed, with significant injuries to an adult and a child. While stop signs were on each side, the intersection lacked crossing gates.
More death and destruction, in Missouri
A second crash involving a single vehicle within two days saw an Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago with about 243 passengers crashing into a pickup truck in Mendon, Missouri. The Tuesday morning collision derailed seven cars and killed three people, two on the train and one in the truck.
The second crash occurred at an uncontrolled crossing that only had a stop sign, with no lights or mechanized arms. Those passengers found their way out by climbing out of the train and onto the roof.
Amtrak promotes its speed and efficiency that gets its patrons from place to place. However, lax safety standards at intersections will only make this unique pairing of tragic accidents a trend.
More collisions within short spans of time that lead to injuries and deaths should represent a wake-up call to improve the safety of both train travelers and single-vehicle drivers.