Oh no – Bicol Express Accident

A tricycle driver was killed and two of his four passengers injured when their vehicle was sideswiped by a Philippine National Railways train at a railroad crossing in Cabuyao, Laguna, early Thursday morning.

Is this the first accident of the famous Bicol Express? 

Police said that the Manila-bound train hit the driver’s side of the tricycle  as it was about to cross the railroad at around 5:30 a.m. in Barangay Uno. The tricycle was thrown ten meters off the tracks, the police said. The tricycle driver died on the spot due to fractures and a head injury, while his passengers in the tricycle’s sidecar sustained bruises and abrasions and were rushed to the St. James Hospital in Cabuyao. According to witnesses, there were two other male passengers seated on the tricycle’s back ride but were able to save themselves after jumping off the tricycle seconds before the impact, the police said. When interviewed by police, they said they did not notice the approaching train. But that seemed impossible for the driver because you would have heard a forthcoming train from a hundred meters. It seems that the train did not stop after the collision. The police were coordinating with the PNR to identify the driver of the train, who is facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

[Editor’s comment:]  It’s the last sentence that makes me shiver. Imagine, you are the locomotive engineer of a train in tropical fields during the night. On the left and on the right is bush and banana trees. You drive your train smoothly at 30 to 40 kilometers per hour and then suddenly a tricycle appears in the glare of your lanterns. 

I am sorry for the locomotive engineer. We all know how tricycle drivers turn around the corners. And slowing down a 500 kilograms tricycle is much easier than to slow down a 300 metric tons train.

My God, how much do we have to learn? 

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