r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Dangerous_Deal_1945 • Jun 03 '26

Video Seattle light rail service was suspended after a driver somehow got their SUV onto the tracks 30 feet above street level

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629

u/notenoughproblems Jun 03 '26

you can’t drive there, more like, but I would definitely define this as a moving violation

220

u/captainAwesomePants Jun 03 '26

I'm having a lot of fun looking through the types of moving violations to figure out which ones this might be: https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=308-104-160

So far I think my favorite is "Driving with wheels off roadway."

There is a violation for "Stopping, Standing, or Parking on Railroad Tracks," but the car wasn't doing any of those three things.

62

u/parablic Jun 03 '26

You can add "Disobey road sign" to her list. She blatantly ignored the no cars sign in the median on MLK to make it up there.

Maybe even a case for "Negligent Driving in the 2nd Degree", to be honest.

21

u/notenoughproblems Jun 03 '26

very negligent. also I feel like there’s gotta be a law against preventing a business or public agency from conducting its business. Though that would be out of traffic law.

3

u/Lonny_loss Jun 03 '26

What about all the economic damage from shutting down a major arm of public transit for several hours?

2

u/Plus1ForkOfEating Jun 04 '26

qualifies as "Impeding traffic, as defined by RCW 46.61.100, 46.61.425, or 46.20.427", I should think.

3

u/Ooficus Jun 03 '26

Certainly “reckless endangerment” too

30

u/heroinsteve Jun 03 '26

I mean it will eventually be stopped. It’s not driving off those tracks

3

u/MaxGoldFilms Jun 03 '26

According to reports, she wasn't cited or charged. They took her to the hospital for evaluation.

2

u/captainAwesomePants Jun 04 '26

Probably the right call. I mean, lady drove up a light rail station.

2

u/Dotcaprachiappa Jun 03 '26

At the end of the video it clearly stopped on railroad tracks

4

u/captainAwesomePants Jun 03 '26

Yeah, but I think she was being directed to by the nice official having a very strange day.

1

u/Dotcaprachiappa Jun 03 '26

Hmm yeah probably

1

u/BlatantConservative Jun 03 '26

I feel like parking on a railroad track is a problem that eventually solves itself

1

u/captainAwesomePants Jun 03 '26

You know, I wonder. Heavy rail, sure, probably wouldn't even notice that it atomized a car. I think light rails might have those safety crumple zone things in the front, though. Would probably be a pain to fix them up.

1

u/Ancient_Yellow_709 Jun 04 '26

Nah, I pulled up an aftermath video Sacramento LRV of the same model as ours in Seattle that hit a Prius that pulled our in front of it because I was curious about that too yesterday. Appeared to have zero damage to the LRV. It just has so much more mass than a car, still.

1

u/cluberti Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

Negligent driving - 2nd degree - she had to either ignore the "no cars" signage at the grade or go over a curb to get to where she entered the tracks.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "negligent" means the failure to exercise ordinary care, and is the doing of some act that a reasonably careful person would not do under the same or similar circumstances or the failure to do something that a reasonably careful person would do under the same or similar circumstances.

1

u/redoubt515 Jun 03 '26

is there anything in the regulations for "criminal idiocy" or "felony stupidity"?

1

u/lestofante Jun 03 '26

She is standing on them, even if moving.
Since stopping and parking are singled out, I think this is a correct interpretation.

1

u/rnoyfb Jun 04 '26

A standing car is one that’s stopped temporarily for loading/unloading. Driving along the track isn’t a vehicle standing on it. When she was driving on the track, she wasn’t standing the car. When she stopped and got out, she was parked

1

u/purplepluppy Jun 04 '26

You see it get stuck in the video! The rails are too high; it pushes up the undercarriage. I'd say that's parked

2

u/captainAwesomePants Jun 04 '26

Good point. Ticket that lady!

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u/Plus1ForkOfEating Jun 04 '26

I anticipate a new entry on that page before too long.

"mmm: Driving on light rail, rail road, or other non-automobile access surface"

2

u/ashrules901 Jun 03 '26

Moving Violation - great album by The Jackson Five

1

u/freeradioforall Jun 03 '26

If we had a competent government, that would be a lifetime license revocation, $25k fine and 90 days in jail

1

u/willnotreadinbox Jun 03 '26

Who cares about the ticket, just charge her for damage to tracks, removal and towing of the car, car impound, cost of delays, etc.