[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Sad for the pilots, and probably career ending for the air controller that was speaking. NTSA will no doubt have a lot to say at some point and I suppose we need to wait for that. 2 separate frequencies would explain some of the problem.

In any case a driver of a ground vehicle should still eyeball up the runway before crossing whether the tower clears you to go or not. (I am assuming he had enough field of vision to see through the windows on the right side, or, had a passenger who could.) The landing lights of an arriving plane should have been visible.

[xone]

In any case a driver of a ground vehicle should still eyeball up the runway before crossing

Oh hell yeah, I always would but some people feel secured by the clearance.