WASHINGTON — Failure to comply with a railroad rule requiring a person on the ground for a back-up vehicle move, and inadequate understanding of that rule, contributed to a fatal accident in which a BNSF welding truck was struck by a train near New Rockford, N.D., the National Transportation Safety Board said in a final investigation report released today (Jan. 28).
The probable cause, the report says, was the failure of the welding crew to detect the approaching train as they were backing across a grade crossing.
The driver of the truck was killed and a second employee riding in the truck was injured in the Nov. 4, 2024, incident at a private grade crossing about 2.5 miles northwest of New Rockford [see “BNSF worker killed …,” Trains.com, Nov. 4, 2024]. The man killed was subsequently identified as 58-year-old Darrin Polansky of Brainerd, Minn.
The collision occurred about 11 a.m. The welding truck was backing toward a farm crossing on a dirt road, which crossed the railroad at a sharp angle, when it was struck by a westbound BNSF freight train. The train crew had seen the truck, sounded the locomotive horn constantly, and had put the train into emergency three seconds before the collision. The passenger in the truck told NTSB investigators he did not see the train until seconds before the collision, and the driver was using side-view mirrors to maneuver the truck into position for work.
A BNSF safety rule on vehicles instructs employees to avoid backup movement when possible, but when one is necessary, requires a person to be present on the ground to guide the movement; the NTSB determined that had the passenger been at the rear of the truck to direct the back-up move, he would have seen the train and heard its horn and likely could have prevented the accident. The investigation also found that while BNSF officials understood that the rule was to be followed without exception, employees believed it could be followed on a case-by-case basis based on their judgment.
BNSF subsequently conducted a safety stand-down to review safety procedures and amended the rule to emphasize that a person on the ground or on-track safety must be used to guide a backup move.
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