Slush Pile: Trains 4 Humans 1

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Trains 4 Humans 1

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Trains 4, Humans 1

Trains make a lot of noise. They vibrate the ground and rails, too. So, how does anyone not notice them?

On March 12, 2010, a 48 year old dropped her gym bag on New York Subway tracks. Now, one would think that having a similar event in the Bronx the day before would make one cautious. Such a thing in the news would tend to make the public aware of the danger. Apparently not. She went for the bag and was hit.

On February 26, 2010, a 24 year old woman was killed when she somehow failed to notice the Max commuter train coming, despite the very loud electric engines and sudden braking noise when it saw her crossing the tracks in front of it. She was wearing a hood over her head and an Ipod and considering the how noisy Max trains are, the Ipod must have been extraordinarily loud for her not to notice the approaching train. The hood wouldn’t help in seeing a train, either. Her mother stated “If those were here blocking, just like those arms drop, nothing would have happened to my daughter or the little boy killed here in 1999,” apparently attempting to explain where her daughter got her lack of common sense around railroad tracks.

Most of us would be worried about metal and glass moving objects weighing hundreds of tons at such intersections and would look before stepping into the danger zone. Despite what her grieving mother said, gates wouldn’t have helped because such a person would simply have gone between them or over them without looking and probably been angry at the delay caused by such gates blocking her way. Plenty of cars, bicyclists and pedestrians do exactly that.

January 6, 2010, a newly-minted 21 year old was celebrating his birthday and fell from the Max train platform with a moving train next to the platform. He somehow survived with only a foot injury for the experience.

November 23, 2009, an unidentified man tried to catch a Max train- by running out in front of it. With predictable results.

November 28, 2007, another 48 year old woman was walking along the Max line— with her back to an approaching train. She apparently didn’t notice the train’s noise or vibrations and the train couldn’t stop in time.

There were others, but what is it about people not noticing gigantic hunks of metal and glass, the ground shaking, the rails shaking, horns blowing, etc.? One can feel sorry for the engineers. They don’t have any say in the matter.

News Articles:

Woman killed by train after jumping on tracks to retrieve bag. New York Post: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/woman_crushed_to_death_on_subway_9Z15Jbow2Bk4kdbgNCD2BO

MAX Train Hits, Kills Woman In Beaverton http://www.kptv.com/news/22684003/detail.html

MAX train kills woman crossing tracks at SW 173rd Ave. Portland Tribune. http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=126721185451679400

Mother of woman killed by MAX says intersection unsafe. Northwest Cable News http://www.nwcn.com/home/Mother-of-woman-killed-by-MAX-says-intersection-unsafe-86620357.html

Man struck, killed by MAX train in Gresham http://www.nwcn.com/news/oregon/Man-struck-killed-by-MAX-train-in-Gresham-71787887.html

Monmouth man survives getting run over by MAX train http://www.nwcn.com/news/oregon/Monmouth-man-survives-getting-run-over-by-MAX-train-80807182.html

Authorities do not know why woman killed by MAX train was walking on the track http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/11/accident_halts_eastbound_max_t.html

Submitted on 03/12/2010

Submitted by: William hunt
Reference: multiple. included

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2010 Slush Pile

Trains 4 Humans 1

2010 Reader Submission Pending Acceptance

2010 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance