The view is much better from the bridge....

[vsmith]

found this slurping thru the Slushpile at the Darwin Awards site...from 2002 but still not uncommon an occurence...

RIDGEFIELD, WASH. - A man and a child were killed Monday afternoon when a Union Pacific freight train struck several people on a bridge over the Lewis River between Ridgefield and Woodland in southwest Washington.
Fifteen-year-old Dustin Welter-Balch, who was fishing with his father along the river, saw the entire incident unfold.
"The train was blowing its horn before it got to the bridge. I just thought it was doing its normal thing. It was so loud," he told KATU News.
That was not the case, though. The train's engineer was actually trying to get the attention of a man and four children walking on the tracks.
However, Dustin says the five people could not completely get out of the way of the train, which hit them and pushed two people off the trestle into the river.
"Two people fell off. They were flipping around in the air and then we found out there were three bodies on the track," he said.
Search and rescue crews recovered the bodies of 12-year-old Ashley Falk and 30-year-old Arin Kight following the accident.
Kight's two children, 7-year-old Matt Thompson and 12-year-old Heaven Campbell, along with his fiancée's child, 6-year-old Wayne Frye, were taken to area hospitals.
Frye spoke with KATU News later in the evening about what he remembered happening.
"I remember hearing this loud thing coming from the train and dad told us to get on the edge, but it didn't work," he said from his hospital bed. "The train hit us. It bumped me back. My dad didn't make it. He fell in the water and he passed away. So did my friend Ashley. That's all."
Kight's fiancée was on shore when the accident happens and told KATU News she had told Kight not to take the kids up on the bridge, but for some reason, he did anyway.
Gus Melonas, a spokesman for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, says the train that hit the group was a southbound Union Pacific freight train bound from Seattle to Oregon.
Melonas says the train, with two locomotives and 47 rail cars carrying containerized cargo, blew its horn and activated its emergency brakes.
The train's speed is being investigated, but Melonas says the speed limit in the area is 60 miles per hour

[V]

[Anonymous]

How many "Private Property No Trespassing" signs did these people pass by without giving it a second thought?

Bad idea, it's still amazing how some people just don't clue in.

[Anonymous]

I'm always amazed when the spokesmen say that the train speed is being investigated, do the authorities not get the fact that people should not go onto a RR bridge without permission and the speed of the train is irrelevent

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 45144

I'm always amazed when the spokesmen say that the train speed is being investigated, do the authorities not get the fact that people should not go onto a RR bridge without permission and the speed of the train is irrelevent

Our society today doesn't care about "your rights", what they care about is Me, Myself and I. I want, I need, I, me, MINE. Like the post the other day about the people who set up a B B Q on the railroad tracks and then were mad when a train came. Many people today are absolutely "clueless" about other people, AND the fact that other people have rights too. We have become a society based on " M E " and nothing is as important as ME. "Permission" to go on a railroad bridge? Surely not, that would interfear with "MY Rights". "Tresspassing", oh no, it is the railroad who is tresspassing, I was standing here BEFORE the train came. Our society looks to pin the blame on everyone and everything BUT themselves. And our court system has allowed it all to happen.

Every day I see ATROCIOUS driving by rude, careless people. I am amazed by how careless and inconsiderate people can be while driving. I have not had a car accident in 20 some years, but these idiots keep trying to help me have one.

The view may be better from the bridge, but I am too busy trying to dodge these idiots and don't have time to look.

[dknelson]

Some years back I read a newspaper article about a train hitting a pedestrian (trespasser) and the newspaper reporter wrote something to the effect that authorities were investigating why the engineer failed to steer the train around the individuals. (Maybe this is why American railroads never adopted the English convention of calling engineers "drivers"!). I guess we can assume this reporter never had Lionel trains as a kid!

I believe one of the goals of Operation Lifesaver is to have news reporters actually ride in locomotive cabs so they can know what they are talking about. But that of course calls for a newspaper reporter to admit he or she doesn't know everything.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

Jim: I would agree with everything you opined except I wouldn't single out the court system as a independent actor -- judges are either elected by us or appointed by people we elect, juries are composed of us, attorneys are paid by us, so it follows that the legal system reflects U.S. social beliefs. If we want the legal system to change, we have to change. It would be nice if judges, juries, and attorneys all decided to do the right thing regardless of the rest of us, but I don't think for a second that we would tolerate that -- we'd fire the bums!

But your main point is that people have come to believe their individual rights trump every thing, every time, every place, to the point that they believe they have no responsibility toward others at all. As you illustrate, a good place to see this is on the street or highway. I've gotten into the habit of reporting every commercial driver I see breaking traffic laws, and guess what, the companies I call rarely bother to even act concerned about it.

Good to see you back Mike, your point of view has been missed - Piouslion