Every day in this country, someone is hit and killed by a train. Sometimes it’s suicide, sometimes it’s a pedestrian with headphones foolishly jogging down the right-of-way, and sometimes it’s some impatient driver who decided that risking their life was more important than waiting a few minutes for a train to pass. For the most part, the common theme is someone who, for whatever reason, makes a choice not to look for trains, and dies as a result. I usually don’t have too much sympathy for these folks, instead feeling sorry for the train crew who is powerless in these situations, or for the families of the victims whose lives are forever changed by a moment of carelessness.
Yesterday a situation occurred in California for which I not only feel sorry for the victim, but also extreme anger at the person whose negligence put the victim in the situation. A two-year old child was killed yesterday… hit by the Amtrak Coast Starlight traveling close to the 79mph speed limit.
The child’s regular babysitter had her roomate watch the child while the babysitter went for a job interview. The roommate took the kids out, chose to illegally cross the railroad tracks, left children unsupervised on one side of the tracks while she crossed again to get another child, and the child that was killed walked back across the tracks as the train approached.
Police are now charging the woman with criminal charges.
Use some common sense! Cross the railroad tracks at designated crossings. Don’t walk along railroad tracks. If you are crossing the tracks (anywhere), look both ways for oncoming trains. If you’re with children, protect them. Trains are big, heavy, and take huge distances to stop. A little healthy fear never hurt anyone. It really pisses me off that a child is dead because an adult who should have known better was in such a big hurry to get to McDonald’s that she couldn’t make intelligent decisions about the safety of the children.
Here are some links to news articles:
Initial Report
Charges Filed
