Driver Gets Citation, $50 Fine, After Car vs. Train Accident in West Medford
Arthur Brennan, 69, will be cited for ignoring the warning system at the crossing and maneuvering his vehicle around the gates.
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A man who drove his car around lowered gates at the High Street rail crossing and was hit by a train was issued a citation by transit police Thursday, according to the MBTA.
Arthur Brennan, 69, of North Conway, N.H. was cited for failure to stop for a railroad crossing, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an email. The offense carries a $50 fine. Brennan suffered minor injuries in the accident.
Brennan drove his Buick LeSabre around the lowered gates at the crossing and was struck by an Amtrak Downeaster train about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to transit police. The impact pushed the car into the crossing attendant's shed, pushing the structure off its foundation, police said.
It took less than 90 minutes to have the accident cleared, but it caused significant delays to the morning commute. Several commuter rail trains had to be canceled Thursday morning and some riders were re-routed by bus from West Medford. No rail passengers were hurt in the accident, Pesaturo said.
The Federal Railroad Administration has previously expressed concern over safety at the intersection. Center line barriers were installed on each side of the crossing last year in order to reinstate a train horn ban in the area. The barriers warn drivers of the intersection and prevent those waiting in line from driving into the other lane up to the rail crossing. In this case, according to police, Brennan was the first car waiting at the crossing.
Brennan's car was registered in New Hampshire, but he apparently has a home in Medford, Pesaturo said.
READ MORE: Police: Man Drove Around Gate, Hit by Train in W. Medford
Diane Mc
3:40 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Why are people in such a rush? Why can't he wait like the rest of us. I'm glad he is OK but did he even think about what could have happened to other people? Plus, if you like in Medford, pay taxes like the rest of us!
BP
5:35 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Transit police have NO jurisdiction to give a traffic ticket on state driving laws? Who gives them a ticket for having a stupid red shed right in the needed sight lines if these junk crossing signals fail? For the shrubs? For the illegal parking spaces?
1. The train has video of this --- a public paid for thing ---Where is the video???
2. The train had a event recorder of brakes,lights, horns, etc...public paid for with humongous overcharges---Where are the event recorder readings???
3. The crossing signal housing has a event recorder with gate operation ---.public paid for with humongous overcharges---Where is the crossing house readings?
4. The crossing maintainer has a hand held that would show if the automated signals were calling him/her to come fix them. Where is the hand held???
5. The drug/alcohol tests on the train crew are?
Jaeger
7:51 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Transit police sure do have jurisdiction. The man driving the car is at fault why your anger with everyone else?
SayWhat
10:48 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
"The drug/alcohol tests on the train crew are?"
A moron drives around down railroad gates, drives into the path of a train and gets hit, so the train crew should get drug tested. Brilliant.
And the moron will only get fined 50 bucks. He should at least lose his license for 50 days.
BP
3:15 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
The train injures another railroader and the crews are always tested. Hmmm so how do railroads save on this slight of hand??? Besides the millions in payouts on a positive tests just the doctor/hospital costs. Oh the train brakes maybe a 1/2 second sooner could have prevented the collision.
kevin
10:49 am on Friday, August 31, 2012
You must be the driver
BP
5:48 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
:::Center line barriers were installed on each side of the crossing last year in order to reinstate a train horn ban in the area.::: Do reporters ever even think of what their writing or does reporting school make them go on what BS the local cops give you?
Arthur Brennan, 69, of North Conway, N.H. got around the down gates HOW Jaret???
Jaeger
7:53 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Now you're mad at the local cops?
BP
5:51 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Where is Arthur Brennan's, 69, of North Conway, N.H. statement in this lop sided charactor slamming report?
Jaeger
7:53 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Probabally in his accident report. Give him a call.
MS
7:20 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
I saw it happen. Nothing more than a complete bonehead in a rush, ignoring all the flashing lights and barriers. He actually tried to drive around the barriers as if High Street were a slalom course.
Dave
8:39 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
I love it! I'm so glad this moron lost his car! If only....
Mark
11:28 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
That's just plain stupid. The gates are there for a reason, you wait until they go up. Pretty simple. You couldn't wait 2 minutes, what's the rush?
RicoF
11:51 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
am I reading this right he only got a $50 fine? you get fined more for sneezing the wrong way...
Sarah
6:40 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
Arthur Brennana lives a half a mile from the railroad not in NH. his car is registered in New Hampshire.
stevieB
8:18 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
Why engage BP? His anger and self worthlessness is evident..or he is a relative of driver..either way..its like arguing w a democrat..pointless
Jaeger
10:35 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
Good point
Richard Dees
9:33 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
A $50. fine...I lost more than that by being late for work because of his stupidity. Do you think I could sue him in small claims court for 2 hours of lost wages?
de
9:59 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
BP really should think about the lives this man couldv'e taken. If he drove like an idiot at rush hour on a normal st, next to a school, which he is lucky wasn't in session, imagine on a highway.
BP
3:29 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
I know quite a few people who have had family accused of going around gates killed by the dirty railroads and when the real evidence came out the gates were malfunctioning. So why are railroad cops doing this and why aren't the politicians allowing it not firing themselves??? No other states let railroad cops do a PUBLIC road collision investigation. Something to do with they are fired if they tell the truth.
Jay
10:56 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
Arthur needs to lose is privledge to drive. He should pay for all damages. He has a big house so I am sure he can afford to drive like a jerk. And pay your taxes you jerk!!! Someone needs to knock on his door about that car being reg'd in NH!!!
BP
3:19 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
Maybe he owns two houses and the vehicle is registered in the state with the lowest tax base or least expensive BS lisence renewal inspections.
Oh and he didn't make the junk crossing equipment fail.
Jamie Lynn King
11:11 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
I think that he should lose his license too. Trains are not things to fool around with, and the gates are there for a reason. I don't even walk across if the gates are down and the train is clearly stopped at the station. You don't take chances with that. We're lucky no one was really hurt. Plus he probably made hundreds of people late to work yesterday morning.
BP
3:23 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
What if the gates aren't down which is obviously the situation here???
Jamie Lynn King
10:58 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
I have a good friend who was on the train, plus I know the person who was in the car behind him. The gates were down, he went around.
Concerned Citizen
11:47 am on Friday, August 17, 2012
This has me so mad, I made some phones calls. Please call the transit police who are in charge of this 617 222-1100. He should have to pay ALL damages and a $50 fine is ridiculous! In terms of his questionable registration, you need to call the rmv 857-368-8000 to have them investigate. Both the Medford tax assessors and police say they have no jurisdiction. He made all of our lives hell, I think it is the least he deserves to not fall through the cracks of the law.
BP
3:42 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012
http://www.insiderexclusive.com/show-content/305-death-on-the-tracks-bnsf-railroads-24-million-dollar-cover-up-part-i.html
What really happened.
de
10:17 am on Saturday, August 18, 2012
I have a feeling BP has a personal relationship with this guy, why else would he be so defensive.
BP
11:32 am on Saturday, August 18, 2012
I'm waiting for Jarret Bencks to get a Buick LeSabre and explain how he gets it around a gate on a sealed crossing at the High Street railroad crossing. The TRUTH in reporting thing before the failed gates get a vehicle full of kids killed and that is covered up by dirty cops also.
Sarah
11:37 am on Saturday, August 18, 2012
Unless Arthur lives in NH more than half the year it is illegal to register your car in NH and live in Mass. If he is registered to vote in Mass. He lives in Mass. He is seen regularly in West Medford. I know for years he has lived in West Medford!
BP is definitely related. How can he claim it is the railroads fault when eye witnesses saw him go around gates that were down!
BP
4:43 pm on Saturday, August 18, 2012
So Arthur sits on your steps singing camp fire songs the reason you know so much about him???
CONWAY — A local man escaped serious injury on Thursday morning when a train struck the car he was driving at a railroad crossing in Massachusetts.
Sarah
12:39 pm on Saturday, August 18, 2012
So now it is the conductors, the railroad system, the gates and all the cops and the reporters who have caused this whole thing?! Oh yeah I guess the witnesses too were in on this conspiracy! Wow! Why was his car the only one going through, if the gates werent down or malfunctioning? Seems to me that there would have been more cars involved if that were the case!
BP
4:54 pm on Saturday, August 18, 2012
"""Brennan drove his Buick LeSabre around the lowered gates at the crossing and was struck by an Amtrak Downeaster train about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to transit police.""" All i see is BS from dirty cops who wouldn't have been there to be witnesses.
Oh --- the train misses the 1930's gate turn on switch 1,600 feet out ---the gate turn off switch then turns the gates on when the train is a 100 feet away. The cops get there 10 minutes later and it looks like the driver was at fault when the gate is down.
The dirty Feds know this problem and hide it.
de
9:17 am on Sunday, August 19, 2012
So what if it was 3 weeks from now and the school kids were crossing, would it be ok to drive around them and hit them because he didnt want to stop for the crossing guard..........
BP
1:07 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
So what if in 3 weeks Arthur's co-workers badged up with cracker jack credentials and told Jarret Bencks that the crossing guard waved him through.....
Sarah
3:06 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
BP you have got to be kidding with all this! You are in a conspiracy theory filled world!
BP
10:18 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
Railroad crossing signals failing injuring people and then being covered up is real funny stuff.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20120817/NEWS/308170048/Truck-firm-Amtrak-crash-Videos-can-t-trusted
Truck firm in Amtrak crash: Videos can't be trusted
So wadda ya think ---would railroad cops LIE in Medford when they know nobody is checking them???
Tony L
4:59 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
I know BP doesn't stand for brain power.
Public Access Producer
5:02 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
B.P. British Petroleum. Has anyone found out about the New Hampshire license plates yet?
de
5:30 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
BP himself is probably guilty of driving around the crossing himself. @tony good one.
Sarah
7:19 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
His car is registered in NH, but also has a home here. He can be seen most days for breakfast at Paul Reveres resturaunt, so he must drive all the way down fromConway every day to have breakfast and probably check on his house. Paul reveres must have the best food in two states!