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NTSB investigators have not determined if the gate and other protective measures were updated when the speed limit was raised, Rosekind said. The agency plans to test signals for abnormalities Saturday. Shoemaker said the flatbed truck she was riding on had just crossed the tracks and was moving slowly when she heard a train coming and looked back to see the lowered crossing gates bouncing up and down on the people seated on the float behind her. Witnesses described people screaming as the warning bells at the crossing went off and the train blasted its horn. Daniel Quinonez, who was waiting in his vehicle as the parade went by, said the float on the tracks could not go anywhere because of the one right in front of it. "It was a horrible accident to watch happen right in front of me," he said. "I just saw the people on the semi truck's trailer panic, and many started to jump off the trailer. But it was too late for many of them." Another witness, Joe Cobarobio, said only a few seconds elapsed between the time the crossing gates came down and the train slammed into the flatbed truck with a "giant cracking sound." Federal Railroad Administration records reviewed by The Associated Press show there were 10 collisions at the crossing between 1979 and 1997. But no accidents had happened in the past 15 years, the NTSB's Rosekind said. Six drivers were injured in those accidents. The trains involved were moving slowly at the time, between 15 and 25 mph. A key question for investigators is whether, after the speed limit was raised, the timing of the crossing gates was changed to give cars and trucks enough time to clear the tracks, Robert Chipkevich, who headed NTSB's rail investigations unit until retiring in 2010, said in an interview. Investigators also will look at whether traffic lights in town prevented the flatbed truck in front from moving ahead, he said.
[Associated
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