head-on collision
A head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side-collision or rear-end collision.
Rail transport
With rail, a head-on collision often implies a collision on a single line railway. This usually means that at least one of the trains has passed a signal at danger, or that a signalman has made a major error. Head-on collisions may also occur at junctions, for similar reasons.
With railways, the distance required for a train to stop is usually greater than the distance that can be sighted before the next blind curve, which is why signals and safeworking systems are so important.
In U.S. railroad jargon, they're called a cornfield meet.
Accidents
Note: if the collision occurs at a station or junction, or trains are travelling in the same direction, then the accident is not a pure head-on collision.
August 11, 1837 — Suffolk,
Virginia-
August 12, 1853 — Pawtucket, Rhode Island — 30 killed.
September 10, 1874 — Norwich Thorpe, Norfolk, England-
August 7, 1876 — Radstock rail accident, Somerset, England
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1892 — Lander, California
February
9, 1904 — Sand Point, Ontario — 15 killed.-
September 24 1904 — Morristown, Tennessee — 113 killed.
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September 15, 1907, Canaan, New Hampshire
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April 12, 1909 — Gary,
Indiana train runs past a meet point.
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June 19, 1909 — Shadyside, Indiana
train runs past a meet point.
-
July 9. 1918 — Great train wreck of 1918, Nashville,
Tennessee — 101 killed.
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January 26, 1921 — Abermule train collision, Montgomeryshire 17
killed.
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December 5, 1921 — Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania — 27 killed.
March 12, 1928 — Katukurunda, Sri Lanka — 28 killed.
March
15, 1957 — near Kuurila, Finland — 28 killed.
November 16, 1960 — Stéblová train
disaster, Czechoslovakia: 118 killed.
1969 — Violet Town railway disaster, Australia — dead driver drives through crossing loop; no ATP;
9 killed.
July 25, 1980 — Winsum, Netherlands: Two trains collide on a single track between Groningen and Roodeschool resulting in 9 deaths.
Not clear if accident "head-on".
January
27, 1982 — A freight train and an express passenger train collide head-on in heavy fog near
Agra, India, killing 50.
-
January 21, 1985 — Gary,
Indiana — two South Shore Line trains collide head-on, 85 injured.
- February
8, 1986 — Hinton train collision,
Alberta. Freight train passed red light due to sleeping crew. 23 killed.
-
1989/1991 — Glasgow
Bellgrove and Newton, Scotland — both SPAD’s with track layout at single lead junctions a major
contributory factor
-
1992 — Cowden rail crash, England.
- January 14, 1996 — Hines Hill
train collision, Australia — Signal Passed At
Danger at a crossing loop causes a head-on collision
May
1, 1997 — Hornbækbanen, Denmark: Two trains collide frontally after one passed a red signal leaving Firhøj station. Both drivers are
killed.- August
2, 1999 — Gauhati rail disaster — Two express
trains collide head-on in. Over 285 people are killed.
September 9, 2002 — Bad Münder,
Germany — Two freight trains collide head-on after a brake failure.- March 20, 2003 — Roermond, Netherlands — A NS passenger train collides head-on with a freight train;
-
July 1, 2006 — Roslyn,
Pennsylvania — 30 injured.
August 27, 2006 — head-on collision between passenger and freight trains 30 km
south of Victoria Falls — 5 killed.- October 11, 2006 — head-on collision at Zoufftgen
Sea transport
With shipping, there are two main factors influencing the chance of a head on collision. Firstly, even with radar and radio, it is difficult to tell what course the opposing ships are following. Secondly, big ships have so much momentum, that it is very hard to change course at the last moment.
Accidents
Road transport
In the context of freeways, such collisions are particularly difficult to avoid, since freeways were designed to facilitate high-speed travel. The resulting car accidents are often fatal.
Some U.S. states have installed special signage at freeway off-ramps to discourage drivers from going the wrong way. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices provides instruction on this signage installation in its Section 2E.50 .
Accidents
- Borung Highway collision, Donald driver ignored stop sign at badly designed intersection.
-
Desmond Llewelyn died shortly after a head-on collision on 19 December 1999.
See Also Pictures of Head On Collisions: http://www.car-accidents.com/head-on-collision-crash.html
See also
External links
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