CHENNAI: In many movies, one might recall instances where a car gets stuck right in the middle of the railway tracks, while a melodramatic hero or heroine screams for help, either the passenger is saved at the nick of time or they tragically die. Why an otherwise fine car always seems to ironically stop just at the railway track is never explained!
A recent message that went viral on social media seems to have the solution to this “unexplained phenomenon”, the message is also accompanied by a picture of smashed up car against a train. According to the message, the car stops exactly at the railway track because of a “magnetic force that is created by the oncoming train”.
The increasing vibrations allegedly give rise to an increase in the electric charge, thus creating a magnetic field. This magnetic field causes friction and the engine in the car allegedly stops working because the “magneto ignition” is disturbed and the dynamo of the magneto ignition stops spinning!
The explanation is absurd as experts say that no magnetic field with the possible exception of an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast would disable a car. The magnetic field emitted by a train is not significant enough to disturb a car crossing a rail track. It can be safely assumed that the trains do not exert any influence on the environment. To further explain the contradiction in this message, experts say all cars were designed to be impervious to any occurring magnetic field. Therefore the only reason a car might magically stop on the railway track would be because of a poor quality engine that cannot go over a bump!
These viral messages do nothing except scare drivers! Motorists (and passengers) should be more disciplined about following road rules and also maintain a decently healthy engine for a safe ride to their destinations.