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Too many idiots getting killed by trains

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Zugmann,  <o:p></o:p> You say I am wrong, but I don’t see why you say that.  None of what I said disagrees with your point of view.  I certainly never said that eliminating all grade crossings is the right approach.  Eliminating some of them might be.  All I am talking about is the need to understand the problem, and I believe the motivation to beat the train is the largest part of the problem.   <o:p></o:p> Your response indicates denial of that part of that cause, as I believe is generally the case with the industry and fans.  Interestingly, it does not appear to be the view of the police, highway patrol, and regulatory authorities.  They see this as a problem that can be solved, although money is always an issue.  The railroad industry sees the problem as having no solution, except for the total elimination of crossings.     Sure, everybody on the road is gambling, but if you believe that fact refutes my point, you are either refusing to accept my point or don’t see it.  People who go around the lowered gates obviously know a train is coming.  They don’t care how much the locomotive weighs since they don’t plan on getting hit by it.  They are making a spontaneous, conscious calculation to avoid a delay.  They are gambling and they know it.  <o:p></o:p> Somebody who gets killed by something falling off of a truck might be said to be a gambler for being on the road, but they are not consiously gambling that nothing will fall off of a truck.   If I had to pick a solution, the most effective one for the least cost would be full gates or median barriers that prevent running around a lowered gate.  I am sure that would be far less cost than an overpass or underpass.  But at least the insurmountable gate makes the gamble practically impossible.    Other than that solution, the only thing that would help would be to un-instill the age-old belief that trains can cause major delays.  I don’t know how you do that without a ministry of propaganda.  All it takes is one delay experience, and the driver applies it to every encounter with an activated crossing.           <o:p></o:p>
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