The worst of the train vs bus/truck wrecks along U.S. 101 in the Salinas Valley was in September, 1963 at Chualar. 32 farm workers were killed and many others injured. I had just started classes at Hartnell College in Salinas when the accident took place. I went down to look at the scene, where the top of the "bus" (really just a flatbed truck with sides to enclose the bed area) was wrapped around the front of the lead locomotive.

Court testimony later stated that the northbound freight was visible to anyone driving over that crossing (the track is immediately west of 101 and parallels the highway) could see an oncoming train for many minutes and from at least a mile away. The sun was in the west behind the truck but the driver claimed he had tunnel vision and never saw the train approaching. It also appeared that he had shifted gears after fouling the track and had he just accelerated quickly in first gear he might of have gotten clear. As it was, the cab of the truck cleared and the locomotive center-punched the truck bed where all the workers sat.

Anyway, as is often said, "You can't fix stupid."