Motorists get a warning before crossing the CSX railroad tracks on Kennesaw Avenue in Marietta.
Kelly J. Huff
Kelly J. Huff
The signs may have been a result of a Marietta man taking action after crossing the tracks and damaging his vehicle.
Clint Smith was traveling home from work on the same route he takes daily over Kennesaw Avenue. He was going the speed limit, he said.
“I heard a big bang when I crossed the tracks that day and didn’t notice any damage until I got home,” Smith said. “Then I realized my car was leaking oil. It drilled my oil pan.”
Smith said he had to have his car towed to the mechanic and spent more than $900 to have it fixed.
He contacted John Gerard, aka “Commuter Dude, at 11Alive, took a video of the rail crossing showing a car scraping the same way he had, and then sent the video to the newscaster. Gerard submitted a complaint to the city, but may not have been the only person to do so.
“I’ve got a picture of the cement by the tracks with hundreds of scrapes from the bottoms of cars,” Smith said.
Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin said he hasn’t heard complaints about the Kennesaw Avenue crossing, and he believes CSX made repairs on that crossing and three others within the last six months.
“I drive over the Kennesaw Avenue crossing quite a bit, and I’m happier with it now more than I was before,” Tumlin said.
Since Smith’s contact with Gerard, the new “rough crossing” signs popped up in both directions approaching the crossing, but Smith said he doesn’t know who is responsible for those new signs.
Jim Wilgus, city engineer, said the city put up the new signs in response to a citizen complaint.
Smith’s goals in bringing attention to the crossing were to be reimbursed for his damage and to prevent it from happening to others, he said.
While his first goal may be a long shot, he seems to have already accomplished his second.
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I have traveled over that RR Crossing hundreds of times in the years that I worked in Smyrna, and lived in Kennesaw.
I drive a 1996 Chevy Cavalier Z24, which has a factory ground-effects package installed on it, which means that there are body panels on my vehicle which are actually lower to the road than the frame or any part of the engine, including the oil pan, by, at minimum, 2 inches.
I will admit here that I have personally hit those same tracks going between 5 to 10 MPH OVER the posted limit, and have NEVER bottomed out, or even scrapped, for that matter.
I am an ASE Certified Master Engine Tech with over 30 years experience, and I am also a trained, qualified, and licensed high performance driver. Unless this guy was going much faster than he claims, or drives a dramatically lowered vehicle (like a Corvette) or a car with a modified suspension or hydraulic lifts which were lowered at the time, I don't see how he could have 'Drilled' his oil pan?!
And I personally feel that, in regards to his $900 repair bill, he has either, 1) Lied about how fast he was truly going when he crossed those tracks (which were, as stated above, smoothed over several months ago), or 2) He was ripped off by the shop where he had the repairs done (if he isn't driving a Corvette or some other semi-exotic car, an oil pan replacement wouldn't cost that much), or 3) his oil pan was already leaking and/or damaged, and he is using the incident, which may or may not have actually happened, to get the city to foot the bill for his vehicle repair.
If I could see the original, damaged oil pan from his vehicle, it would be a simple matter of some basic automotive forensics to make a determination of whether or not his vehicle actually did scrape bottom going over the tracks, or if the damage was caused by some other factor or incident.
Based on what I know of the specific crossing and area of Marietta Avenue, and judging from the description above, I would say that this guys is looking for a free-bee vehicle repair...sorry dude, but I'm just not buying it!
But I also have to say...dude...$900 for an oil pan? I'd find a different mechanic. Dude got ripped off.
Where do the state and Feds we pay millions sleep?