Sad...but why does this keep happening?

Plain and simple........"Victim drove around railroad crossing gates".

It happens because people have an unlimited capacity for stupidity.

Most people, I'd imagine, who go around crossing gates think:

• Whatever they have going on is more important than pedestrian concerns such as waiting for a train, and therefore, worth the risk
• The train is way off and they can get around it
• There's no train coming at all and maybe the gates are messed up
• Nothing's going to happen to them. That happens to most of us as kids and should fade away when we get older. But for some folks, it never does.

I'm just guessing, mind you, as in most cases there isn't enough left to ask for reasons why they killed themselves in such a spectacular fashion.

I feel little sympathy for these people, leaving it instead for the crew of the locomotive and the family (that is, until they sue, which you know will be coming soon in this case).

Maybe the driver was paying attention to the most important thing - the smart phone.

Everyone knows that the phone is where it's at.

Yes. That was sarcasm.

Not to be harsh but this is the way the herd gets thinned out.  Jim

I just caught the end of a local news story about an inebriated woman getting stuck

on the tracks, survived the experience, but had the styling of her SUV rearranged to

unrecognizable by a large solid object following a steel trail.  Locally, if anybody is

sloshed and causes or is involved in a single vehicle accident (they seem to like power

poles as targets), they get hammered in the courts.  There needs to be a national law

where, if somebody disobeys a crossing warning,  they have no recourse.

 Yeah, but what about the passengers who are along for the ride? I feel bad for them as people like this rarely seem to be alone when they do this...

P51, unfortunately there is usually collateral damage in these instances, but what about the trauma to the engineers of the train, there are just too many excuses in the world today as things always seem to be someone elses responsibility.  But I guess that's just the world we live in.  Jim R/USAF retired.

Yeah, I mentioned that in my earlier post in this thread:

I feel little sympathy for these people, leaving it instead for the crew of the locomotive and the family (that is, until they sue, which you know will be coming soon in this case).

Sad but all so true the way todays society deems justified in handling such types of situations where the offender is truly at fault.  No offense to anyone but how can you tell if a lawyer is not telling the truth?  Their lips are moving.  Cheers Jim

Hopefully, there was an in-cab camera and the engineer did everything the rules call for.

"You can't fix stupid!"

I think it's long past time for the crews to sue the victims and or their estates for the mental anguish caused.  What good for the goose.....

I think suicide by train is allot more common then might be thought. Here in Utah there have been many accidents with frontrunner I'm sure were intentional.

What happened recently near the Southern RR museum in North Carolina would have

been suicide (however, historically, it has been drunks, and now it can be stoned

parties), autopsies can usually find that answer.  People jumping off the Golden Gate

have a chance to change their mind on the way down, so hard to see why many have

done that. Getting hit by an auto or a train (stepping in front of a bus) is no sure

thing...you could just get mangled and handicapped for a life where you could consider

your regrets.  I can't picture using a vehicle for a train suicide.  Today's safety equipment might be just enough to keep you alive, penned in the vehicle while the gas tank burns!

" People jumping off the Golden Gate have a chance to change their mind on the way down,...."

======================================

Really? I am thinking, they may change their mind on the way down alright, but they are still going to hit the water! The time to change your mind is BEFORE you are over the side...and "on the way down." On the way down is too late, gravity seems to win every time.

 train traveling 40+ miles an hour is very likely to end it for a person safety equipment or no. There have been many people stepping in front of trains here in Utah. That's pretty much 100 percent success..

The first time I saw the Golden Gate Bridge I had an interesting experience. It was September and I came unprepared for the very cool weather San Francisco can have. in the trip I caught the flu-sicker then a dog! We drove out to the bridge and parked I wanted to walk out on the bridge but my wife and son thought it to cold so I went out there alone. Got about half way out and a security person chased me down and started asking me all kinds of questions. I told them I'm just a tourist blah blah. They said they had a report of a person who planned to jump who matched my description.. I was like no no that's not me..

There are no victims here, the deceased drove around the gate.

Sadly, a human life ended in momentary terror, and nothing was gained.  I have always hoped for a peaceful death, when it is my turn, but this person died violently.  It's not a good way to die.

But -- to address your question of why this keeps happening -- we have some people in our civilization who are compliant with the law, even at the cost of giving up the personal freedom to do things like drive excessively fast, refuse to wear safety belts in their vehicles, refuse to grant right-of-way to a train, won't take their turn at a 4-way stop intersection.  Others, though, are driven by self-serving behavior whenever they think they can escape consequences for it.  Therefore, they are weak in things like courtesy, teamwork, generosity, and consideration for anyone other than themselves.  Their behavior at railroad highway crossings is just part of their overall ethics.  They're the same people we see trying to change lanes every 30 seconds in heavy traffic, taking credit for the work of others, taking double helpings at a potluck . . . always looking out for themselves, and only themselves.

They're out there.

Well expressed, Number 90.

This is one of the good things about being a foamer.  We slow down so we can see the train. 

Kent in SD

Sorry, but it is ridiculous to equate not wearing seat belts or speeding with a lack of courtesy and generosity. That's a huge jump to make. 

It's also a little rude to make that sort of connection when discussing someone's death. You knew not this person who died, but by making the comments you did, you imply that they too were not courteous, not helpful, not team players, etc. That sort of connection is in really bad taste, and, quite possibly, completely untrue.

quote:

It's also a little rude to make that sort of connection when discussing someone's death

The discussion is "Why does this keep happening", not why did this particular person go around the gates.

It's a good thing they took it seriously, though. Even though they got the wrong guy, I'd have been thankful for them checking had that been me, just in case I WAS the guy they were worried about!

Number 90 seldom posts without deep thought.

 Seatbelts unworn are a discourtesy to your family and friends, and speeding often isn't much different from crossing the tracks with the gates down.

   The thoughts of the family are at the bottom of this one

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/lo...-20150710-story.html

"Alexandre's family now is warning others to not make the same mistake.

"If you're gonna be late, call and let them know," Burea said.

"Because if you die, you won't get there."

And the Darwin Award goes to...

By pointing out this particular incident, it focuses the discussion on this one tragedy, even if a broader discussion is the goal. The OP is using this incident as an example of other tragedies like it. In the process, generalities made about such tragedies broadly become focused on the particular example given as well.  

TWO MAIN reasons:

Stupidity and /or ignorance

Suicide by train

It would be interesting to see the statistics for car vs. train incidents and fatalities in the 50's and 60's. If less than today, were people less distracted back then and more aware of oncoming train traffic? Did they have more respect for the power of a moving locomotive? What I keep coming back to is that unless the driver has a clear death wish they must honestly think that they are faster than the train or that the train can just apply the brakes and stop on a dime to prevent the accident. Here's what's in the CA Driver's Handbook:

"Never stop on the railroad tracks. Remember that a train cannot stop quickly or swerve out of the way. If you are on the tracks, you risk injury or death."

To me, that's kind of an oversimplification of the physics involved.

I know not whether there were fewer or more during that period, but the internet, social media, and more widely available mass communications have all made deaths around the country more visible to us all, both in the railroading community and outside it.

Should they post the mathematical formula to clarify the statement?

Rusty

Extreme lack of common sense and/or TEXTING WHILE DRIVING!

This is one of the reasons they are developing the "driverless" car. People don't pay attention like they should when operating a vehicle,  (although it will probably go the way of the jet-pack, the solar powered vehicle, and the beta-max video tape player)

quote:

This is one of the reasons they are developing the "driverless" car. People don't pay attention like they should when operating a vehicle,  (although it will probably go the way of the jet-pack, the solar powered vehicle, and the beta-max video tape player)

I don't think you can blame someone driving around a crossing gate on inattention, its a willful act. Still, cars are being built with more and more built-in distractions all the time. And of course there are cell phones and texting. I am out walking frequently, and see all sorts of folks using their cell phones while they drive. The vast majority are adults, not kids. Its extremely common to see them using the phone as they pull out of a parking lot.

  A commercial operator gets a $2,500 fine for using the phone while driving. I don't think the law should discriminate between a personal and commercial drivers in the use of handheld phones by operators.

Every time I hear of these tragedies I cant help but think of this.

https://youtu.be/QGRmEapWMXU?t=7m14s

quote:

A commercial operator gets a $2,500 fine for using the phone while driving. I don't think the law should discriminate between a personal and commercial drivers in the use of handheld phones by operators.

What defines a commercial operator?
Plenty of the folks I see talking on their cell phones while driving are in commercial trucks.... contractors and the like.

 A commercial operator includes use of a vehicle owned by a business, or used by a business.

Just because you see it done, doesn't mean it is legal, or that the law is widely enforced.

You'll also never see a flying car for one primary reason:

People can't drive in 2D, you wanna introduce a 3D aspect and then having wrecked cars falling out of the sky after collisions, onto people and their homes?

As for the driverless car, you won't be seeing this for many years to come, as cars can't look on the sides of roads and recognize potholes, see wildlife getting ready to run out in front of them, or navigate down really backwoods dirt trails like a person can.

I watched a Army project for a self-driving Humvee at Aberdeen Proving Ground a few years back and they had all kinds of problems, on a smooth dirt track graded for the project, with full GPS control. We're a long way from self-driving cars at this point.

And a lot of those commercial operators bribe, uh, contribute, to politicians to bend their ear of about overbearing regulations costing them so much they are thinking about moving their business and jobs elsewhere.