quote:

Originally posted by Amy:

One of the worst days my husband has had as an ER doctor was a few years back at Christ Hospital when a 13 or 14 year old girl was hit by a train. She was listening to her I-Pod and walking with her family...the train was coming and her family yelled to her but she didn't hear them. She didn't stand a chance against the train. My husband had the glorious job of trying to bring her back - which was pretty much impossible.

Ah, the Nelson girl. I worked on that case. She was walking with her friends to school on the path across the tracks that she, and dozens of others, walked across each day to school. The railroad had been asked for more than a decade to replace the section of the fence that was missing.

God I hated that case.

Dins,
We're not suggesting that someone get sued because this happened. It's a tragedy and sad - period. Don't you have kids about this age? Come on - even you are not that cold hearted.

Fan,
I think that was a different case. Just as sad. This one was near the train station on the south side and she was with her brother(s)/sister(s). She was crossing at a legal crossing but didn't hear the bells/train/family. Either way, there are too many of these stories and demonstrates that there are some things we need to make our kids paranoid about!

I have been through formal railroad safety programs 5 or 6 times. It’s amazingly easy to get killed by a train. I have seen people with 20-30 years of railroad experience get “clipped” by trains before. I see commuters taking risks I never would take. People are often killed because they stand too close to the rails… Just because the rails are 56-1/2” wide, does not mean the train is. I once had to put rubber bands on my pants because a safety person told me they were too wide (I don’t wear bell bottoms!) and the train might catch me.

Trains move much faster than they look. Often people think they can beat the train, not realizing it is going much much faster than they think. I have seen the results first hand of what a train does to the human body… You really can’t imagine how bad it is.

If you need to scare your teen, show them this video. You will need to remove the spaces… I put the extra spaces in it to make it more difficult to click on by mistake…

http:// cencalrails. railfan. net/ traingirl. mpg

I should warn you, this video is not for the faint of heart.

Ugh. That's disturbing....yet effective.

Boy, I hope that 19 year old that was hit this morning was not deaf, or blind, or disabled or just flat out made a mistake like most humans do. And most definitely I hope he is not related to someone that frequents this board and reads this thread.

I hope the youngster is okay and our prayers go out to him and his family.

Regardless of whether or not he intentionally put himself in the general vicinity of the train, isn't it still considered an accident if it was not his intention to get hit? There...I just defined the word "accident." Now can you feel sorry for him and hope he does well? If there was confusion about the definition, then I think this should straighten everyone out.

quote:

Originally posted by Amy:
Dins,
We're not suggesting that someone get sued because this happened. It's a tragedy and sad - period. Don't you have kids about this age? Come on - even you are not that cold hearted.

Sure I'd be sad if my kid were hit by a train. But I'd also be extremely distressed that they did something that stupid and avoidable, and would be disappointed that I had not succeeded in teaching them something so basic as being careful while crossing train tracks.

No, I don't shed a lot of tears over every unfortunate incident I hear about in the local, national, or world news.

Where did farber55's post go between Clamato's and Dinsdale's above?

Kids will do things that you don't necessarily want them to do. On the flip side, they at times will not do the things that you would like them to do.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MP:
Where did farber55's post go between Clamato's and Dinsdale's above?

Farber threatened Santa Claus. I hear Ted works part time for Santa, so I’m sure he took it down.

i have told my kids that i'll personally call the police if i see them cross the tracks at montclair...but my prayers are with the kid...
the morning rush metra trains wont let you on if you try to dash under the gates while they're closing...good rule!

Does anyone know why about 5 cop cars, one ambulance, and a fire truck proceeded east on Duane last night (April 23) around 6:00 pm in a big hurry?

And, re train accidents, it is hard sometimes to muster up sympathy for anyone other than the family involved and the train personnel when you see apparently able-bodied people every day putting their own safety at needless risk. Sorry, but I honestly wish they'd fine the heck out of everyone who tries to beat the trains at the crossings (and other areas). And, yes, bravo to the conductors who won't let gate-dashers board.

quote:

Sorry, but I honestly wish they'd fine the heck out of everyone who tries to beat the trains at the crossings (and other areas).

In that case, there should be a cop at every intersection in Glen Ellyn that has a stop sign for the folks that truly breeze through without so much as a head turn from side to side. I've had so many close calls in this town, it's crazy.

In other words, I hardly think anyone in this town is so proper in their daily lives that the utmost caution is used with all daily (and often mundane) activities, i.e. driving, walking to the train, etc... We are human and most of us think that we are invincible in some form or another, if it's not the train then it's something else.

Rumor (good source I might add) has it that the almost victim was a prisoner released from jail that morning and was walking the tracks home to Villa Park.

Man vs. Train

quote:

Originally posted by darlili:
Does anyone know why about 5 cop cars, one ambulance, and a fire truck proceeded east on Duane last night (April 23) around 6:00 pm in a big hurry?

Possible house fire on Lowell... I don't think it was anything because they were only there for about 15 minutes.

quote:

Rumor (good source

Is this your idea of a good source Rob?

Thanks - they certainly were moving briskly. And, yeah, people do seem to think they're invincible. Couldn't believe how many kids were on bikes on Duane, as the the emergency vehicles were zipping along - and nary a one seemed to get the idea of getting off the street until returning commuters started yelling at them! :-)

BTW, does seem like progress is being made on the Crescent parking lot - it'll be nice to get back in there, and I'm sure the homeowners around there will be equally glad to get us off their streets.

A lady from a house on Lowell smelled smoke in her basement and called for help. They left very soon after arriving so, if there was a fire, it was handled quickly with a small extinguisher.