Had a bit of drama while driving home from work today. I live not far off of Capitol Avenue in San Jose, along a stretch that has the VTA light rail line running down the middle of it. Capitol is a pretty busy street, and, frankly, I see a lot of stupid driving stunts on it. I've been wondering for a while if I'd ever see somebody do something really stupid like play chicken with an oncoming train. Today, I came pretty close.

I was driivng along Capitol, and I look over and see a guy trying to push a white Volvo sedan off the tracks. It looks like he tried to make a U turn across the tracks between intersections (why, I'll never know) and got his car hung up on the rails and/or the concrete barrier that divides the tracks from the street (it's not a huge barrier, maybe six inches high, but I think my car would probably get hung up on it.)

I debated whether I should stop and phone the police or somebody on my cell phone. I decided that I was only three blocks from home - why not phone from someplace warm and light?

Well, a block and a half later, I realize why not. I see the light rail train coming the other way. I try, and completely fail, to come up with some way to communicate to the driver, "Hey, there's a stuck Volvo in your path about a block and a half thattaway." I contemplate pulling over and phoning the cops now, but I estimate that the encounter between Volvo and train, however it plays out, will be over by the time I can finish dialling.

I went home and related the story to Daniel, and then we decided to go out and get some food. So we hopped in the car, and headed back up Capitol Avenue.

Where we discovered a stopped light rail train, a still-stuck but unharmed Volvo, two police cars, a couple of police officers dealing with a sheepish-looking Volvo driver, and a whole lot of rubbernecking traffic.

So the story had a happy ending after all. But if I ever see anything like that again, I'm going to pull over right away and call the cops.