# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657 "2024-01-05T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 246
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4901 "2025-07-01T16:04:43Z")
They _won_ that appeal and the law was stricken, wasn’t it? Has a train-stopping-on-a-road law been enforced _anywhere?_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4902 "2025-07-01T16:07:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > They _won_ that appeal and the law was stricken, wasn’t it? Yes, but the law _was_ enforced prior to their appeal. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Has a train-stopping-on-a-road law been enforced _anywhere?_ You have access to search engines, the same as me, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4903 "2025-07-01T16:09:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > They _won_ that appeal and the law was stricken, wasn’t it? > > Yes, but the law _was_ enforced prior to their appeal. Yeah. Local communities could ticket and fine train owners who blocked roads. Which, by and large, the owners just ignored and never paid It was a meaningless penalty. The freight owners clearly value their trains and cargo over human beings. There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about it, as the people with ower to make and enforce laws don’t seem to give a fuck, either. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4904 "2025-07-01T16:14:21Z")
Well, golly, I _did_ that search and found nothing. I was wondering if anyone else had more/different info to add to the mix. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4905 "2025-07-01T16:15:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yes, but the law _was_ enforced prior to their appeal. 23 appeals that were backed up by the Supreme Court tells me it definitely _wasn’t_ “enforced”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4906 "2025-07-01T16:18:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 23 appeals that were backed up by the Supreme Court tells me it definitely _wasn’t_ “enforced”. It _was_ enforced, _at the time of the infraction_. That’s why NS complained, and was the basis of their lawsuit. The fact that the railroad ultimately prevailed, and got the Indiana Supreme Court to strike down the law, invalidated that enforcement, but doesn’t change the historical fact that, originally, some law enforcement person was writing citations against the railroad for blocking roads. But, ultimately, it’s semantics. As Broomstick notes, even when the Indiana law was on the books, and citations were being written, they were being ignored anyway. My understanding is that, because there are federal laws which effectively protect railroads (and were the basis of the Indiana ruling), local and state laws which have been passed to make blocking roads for extended periods illegal – passed because local residents and businesses become fed up with their lives being disrupted – are essentially toothless. If how you want to define “enforced” is “a law forces a railroad to pay a huge fine, and/or significantly change how they operate”…then, no, there probably aren’t such examples. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4907 "2025-07-01T16:20:21Z")
Ultimately, enforcement was attempted and it failed miserably. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4908 "2025-07-01T16:21:24Z")
And at a mere $500 per citation, that’s $11,500. Even if the railroad did pay those fines, they’d never notice. They probably spent more than that on the lawyers they used to fight it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4909 "2025-07-01T16:23:24Z")
Well, it’s about the principle of the matter, not the amount of the fines. And the principle is “Screw those peons thinking they can dictate jack shit to us” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4910 "2025-07-01T18:03:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If how you want to define “enforced” is “a law forces a railroad to pay a huge fine, and/or significantly change how they operate”…then, no, there probably aren’t such examples. That is not how I _want_ to define “enforcement”. That is how “enforcement” is actually defined. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4911 "2025-07-01T18:04:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That is not how I _want_ to define “enforcement”. > That is how “enforcement” is actually defined. Not really, but I don’t feel the need to argue with you further. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4912 "2025-07-01T18:14:46Z")
Cambridge Dictionary: [ENFORCEMENT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/enforcement) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4913 "2025-07-01T18:41:52Z")
The citation was the enforcement. Often times the way a law is enforced isn’t to our satisfaction, but you can’t say it wasn’t enforced unless the authorities just completely ignored it. It’s like if you report a post to the mods, and they look at it and give a mild note when you want a person banned. You can’t say the mods didn’t enforce the rules, they just didn’t enforce them in the way you hoped. And I am 100% in agreement that it seems crappy that the railroads can effectively ignore all of this. I hate when a train completely screws up the roads near where I live, which is frequent enough that I will often go out of my way to avoid crossings just in case, even when it adds significant length to my drive time. Because you can end up completely stuck for a long time with no safe way to remove your vehicle, as you’re surrounded by other vehicles who won’t move. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4914 "2025-07-01T18:48:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It’s like if you report a post to the mods, and they look at it and give a mild note when you want a person banned. You can’t say the mods didn’t enforce the rules, they just didn’t enforce them in the way you hoped. It is like if you report a post to the mods, they attempt to enforce it, and their attempt fails and they give up…which doesn’t really happen here. When it comes to railroads, this is a case of enforcement being _attempted_, and quite unsuccessfully. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4915 "2025-07-01T18:54:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It is like if you report a post to the mods, they attempt to enforce it, and their attempt fails and they give up…which doesn’t really happen here. It could. Imagine there was a board software glitch preventing a suspension. And then the poster in question just never returned so there was no need to take further action anyway. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > When it comes to railroads, this is a case of enforcement being _attempted_, and quite unsuccessfully. That comes down to a matter of perspective, it’s not really an issue of correct or incorrect. I do see your viewpoint though. From the perspective of law enforcement, they did as much as the law allowed them to do. But if there were no consequences despite the fact that there should have been consequences per the way the law was written at the time, I can understand how you could say that the law wasn’t enforced. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4916 "2025-07-01T20:02:51Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > For the trains or for the cars? The vehicle overcrossings our city has installed start at half a million and go up from there. There’s a tendency to put that kind of thing off. Reno/Sparks had a series of grade crossings just north of the Truckee River on what was then the Southern Pacific. It was put in a two mile trench. I have no idea how long the project cost or how long it took, but was surprised as hell when I revisited Reno after a couple decades. “Where are the trains?” [301 West St - Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Reno+Amtrak+Station/@39.5279198,-119.8164379,3a,75y,266.22h,95.75t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7MdxJYU39YM5tCfVdHc5jA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-5.754694356955682%26panoid%3D7MdxJYU39YM5tCfVdHc5jA%26yaw%3D266.22488495375103!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x809947608a4248db:0xe4af60cd661cfaeb!8m2!3d39.5286604!4d-119.8115159!16s%2Fg%2F11h3fqw5vk?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4917 "2025-07-01T20:43:05Z")
Los Angeles sunk the main trackage from Long Beach to central Los Angeles in a 33 foot deep trench, eliminating hundreds of grade crossings. eta: that article preview is horrible, but the article is good > **[Alameda Corridor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alameda_Corridor)** > > .mw-parser-output .RMbox{box-shadow:0 2px 2px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.14),0 1px 5px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.12),0 3px 1px -2px rgba(0,0,0,.2)}.mw-parser-output .RMinline{float:none;width:100%;margin:0;border:none}.mw-parser-output table.routemap{padding:0;border:0;border-collapse:collapse;white-space:nowrap;line-height:1.2;margin:auto}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMcollapse{margin:0;border-collapse:collapse;vertical-align:middle}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMreplace{margin:0;border-collapse:collapse;ve... ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4918 "2025-07-02T00:38:15Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > My area recently solved a problem like that by keeping the tracks at the same level and building an _underpass_ for the cars, which took up a lot less room and was probably significantly cheaper (although still taking substantial money) They did the same thing recently to quite a few grade crossings on Long Island (NY). [Here’s](https://maps.app.goo.gl/kepzKYoY34bffvGb9) one that used to be a level crossing that I would drive over daily. (I moved away from that area many years ago now.) ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4919 "2025-07-02T00:52:21Z")
Wouldn’t have expected it in this thread but a very appropriate username/post combo ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/4920 "2025-07-02T00:56:10Z")
Well, yes, they did increase the genus of the island in the process. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=245) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=247)