# Another waste of young lives



## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Again trying to argue with a train.

*http://www.usatoday.com/...>*


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Yup very sad, We had a guy here in Kingston yesterday afternoon hit and killed while walking on the tracks with a walkman on so he didnt hear the freight train comin at 45 mph... needless to say but not much left of him after that..


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

99times out of a hundred you will lose. Trains are not like autos they do not stop as cars do. I investigated to many of these type accidents and its sad to see the teen agers get wiped out so early in life. Believe it or not most of these accidents happen within 25 miles of there residence. The old saying was stop look listen and live. Take heed and live by these rules. Later RJD


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

The driver was to have started a 30 day suspension the day before. They would all be alive if not for his blatant disregard for the law, and this was not the first time.. but it is the last.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Even when i am working in the country side I roll the window down and turn my radio down. Then cross the tracks.


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## Fred (Jan 2, 2008)

The driver lived in Woodhaven (and all 5 had attended the same Taylor High School over the years) and this was his 2nd license suspension - his driving record left a lot to be desired considered he was only 19. The video shows them driving around another car that had stopped at the gate and then they drove around the gate engineer on Amtrak was helpless and will have this on his mind for a long time even though it wasn't his fault.


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Posted By JEFF RUNGE on 11 Jul 2009 05:43 PM 
The driver was to have started a 30 day suspension the day before. They would all be alive if not for his blatant disregard for the law, and this was not the first time.. but it is the last. 

OTOH, 'soft' law enforcement might have something to do with it. Had enforcement been tougher, that driver might've been picking trash up alongside a road in a striped suit, instead of having a laugh a minute at 'getting over' one more time....

One thing nobody mentions is, big objects don't appear to be moving as fast as they are. Think of a big jet coming in. They look slow and graceful. But they're clocking right along, in the 150 mph range, if I'm anyway near close.

This fact was made clear to me the day the gates started down as I rode my motorcycle to work. I looked uptrack, and figured it was the afternoon 'road blocker' that tied up traffic for about half an hour at frequent but unspecified days around 3 pm. It looked about like the same kind of diesel, big, bulky, dirty and trundling along.

"Ho," thinks I, "I won't be late for work if I crack on the ol' throttle." So I ducked under the lowering arm (lots of room to spare, but something being lowered at you makes you want to duck) and happened to glance uptrack at that train. It wasn't the afternoon blocker. It was a through freight, and whatever the speed limit for that stretch of track was, he wasn't wasting time.

All I got out of that was a near overdose of adrenalin and the realization mentioned above. Oh, I was 19 or 20, can't remember. I still can see that engine on occasion, however, just before I go to sleep. Maybe that's why I don't like diesels: I coulda been a hood ornament on one. Me 'n my Honda.


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## markperr (Jan 7, 2008)

The saddest part of the whole thing is that this kid took four innocents with him. It was all that was on the news for days here in Detroit. Crash happened about three miles from where I used to live. I've crossed that crossing on many occasions. Amtrack is moving like a bat outta you-know-where going through there. 

Too bad for all involved. 

Mark


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Had a oil truck driver try to beat a train today in Denver. Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm pulling 6000 gallons of something very flamable, I'm going to err on the side of caution when the grade crossing lights start flashing. Fortunately, he got to watch the flames eventually incinerate his truck and about half of an SD-something-or-other. (I'm a steam guy, okay?) Something tells me he's gonna be adding to the state's unemployment statistics... 

Later, 

K


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

I hate playing devil's advocate, but stopping a 6,000 gal rig (What? Something less than 48,000 #?) isn't the simplest thing. What if he was caught in that classic bind: moving too slow to clear and too fast to stop? Granted, any guy worth his salt (or in love with his life) rolls up on a crossing running little questions like that through his mind, but a lot are totally clueless. The crossing I mentioned a few posts above was made from planks between and on each side of the rails, slick as snot when wet or icy. Yet, I'd come down on the side of the RR. (Assuming maintenance on the gates/trips were current and the train was running at or under the limit--some don't).

Broadcasters lament that ~50,000 people/yr are killed in traffic accidents. I am humbly amazed it's not twice that figure. I too expect that guy'll be in a new line of work.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I told my 16 YO that she was NOT getting her own car until she was 18.... She argued, I showed her that article... "But daddy, I'm NOT stupid!" 

No but your friends are, overconfidence, and a buncha kids, loud music, and yakkety-yak leads to smart kids doing dumb things.

Maybe she'll talk to me again next week?


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

With a little luck ... 2 weeks?









When it was time to teach my daughter to drive, it turned into a screaming match. Before the ignition was turned on, I'd tell her to check her mirrors, seat adjustment, etc. Ans: grrr.... After engine was started and she was halfway down the street, I'd say, "Be nice to check your gauges, y'know. Oil pressure is always good to have." Ans: GrrR. We get to the first corner, turn it, I'd remark, "Lots of people use the turn signals. It's the little lever over on the left side, sticking out. Can't miss it." Ans. "GRRR!!"

My daughter's mottos were, 'If you have a working horn, who needs brakes?' And, "**** yes, I have the title to the inside lane, why do you feel the need to ask?" Her idea of a stop was to accelerate into brakelights until just almost too late, and jam on the brakes. By then I'd have lost all self control and we'd yell all the way home. She could yell longer and louder without batting an eye. So I said, 'to **** with it. Let your mother teach you.' It was a good revenge. Her mother's driver's license is in Braille.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Oh boy! I get to brag! 

I taught all 3 of my kids to drive and it could not have been a more rewarding and pleasurable experience with each of them!







Thank God! 

Each approached it differently, but each took to it quite well. It was wonderful to watch them learn that they had to make the car go where they wanted it to. 

We would go to a large empty parking lot and pretend that in each painted parking spot (except one) was one of their "dream cars" (My 1st son's was a Testarosa!) and they had to park between them. Oh the bent fenders I would tell him about!









We would also pick a spot on the concrete (an oil spot or intersection of two cracks) and practice putting a selected tire "ON" it. My daughter could stick any tire anywhere I selected in one approach. She KNEW the dimensions of the car! 

She "threaded the needle" on her FIRST time on city streets when a fellow coming the other way did not "share the road" when they met right next to a parked car... he had PLENTY of room, she... well... I was having a heart attack figuring my customized (Captain's chairs and tables in the plush interior!) Ford Econoline 150 van ("Windy City Express" was painted on the rear side panels -- not by MY choice!) would lose its custom paint job on both sides and I'd be stuck paying for at least its repair and that of the parked car. 

I managed to not scream, "Look out!", knowing that to do so might make it worse! 

I managed to keep my composure until we got to the spot a couple of blocks later where we had agreed to turn around before returning home and when she stopped we discussed it. 

I could not have placed my hand out the window between my car and the parked one. 

"Yeah, that is a bit closer than what I thought I had." she said. But then she added rather cheerfully, "But I had at least twice that much on my side so I thought it'd be okay!"

I told her that when it is that close you need to stop and let the idiot that won't share the road leave the area before you proceed. She agreed and said that next time she would not cut it so close.

I think she is one of the best drivers around!


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## Fred (Jan 2, 2008)

I taught both my sons have to drive as well (before they enrolled in driver's ed), both turned out to be good drivers so far (11 yrs for 1 and 4 for the other). Problem is sometimes they will be out with their friends and they won't be the driver, that's what is always the major worry. In this tragic accident I wonder if any of the other 4 kids in the car told the driver to stop the car and not go around those gates, or was the music so LOUD that nobody could hear each other talk!


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## Road Foreman (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin, 

Tank truck drivers are to stop before crossing a railroad track(s), full or empty makes no difference.. 

Guys, 

Before you let your daughter or son drive get them books written by Denise McCluggage, make them read them before you let them drive, first women journalist inducted in the Automotive Hall of Fame.. 

BulletBob


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## silverstatespecialties (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Les on 12 Jul 2009 06:09 PM 
Posted By JEFF RUNGE on 11 Jul 2009 05:43 PM 
The driver was to have started a 30 day suspension the day before. They would all be alive if not for his blatant disregard for the law, and this was not the first time.. but it is the last. 

OTOH, 'soft' law enforcement might have something to do with it. Had enforcement been tougher, that driver might've been picking trash up alongside a road in a striped suit, instead of having a laugh a minute at 'getting over' one more time....

Law enforcement has nothing to do with it...I can write tickets & make arrests all day long, but in the end it's not the cops who put people in "striped suits," it's the prosecutors, judges, and juries. There's nothing law enforcement could have done to prevent this idiot from doing what he did. And even if he would have been sentenced to jail time for previous bad driving, he would have been portrayed as a poor misunderstood "teenager" or child who didn't deserve jail time for doing what most others do when they drive....Been There, Done That (seen it too many times). And it is *MUCH MORE expensive* to incarcerate someone than it is to seek alternative punishment....


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## silverstatespecialties (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Mik on 25 Jul 2009 12:09 PM 
I told my 16 YO that she was NOT getting her own car until she was 18.... She argued, I showed her that article... "But daddy, I'm NOT stupid!" 

No but your friends are, overconfidence, and a buncha kids, loud music, and yakkety-yak leads to smart kids doing dumb things.

Maybe she'll talk to me again next week? 



I taught my daughter how to drive last year, and set many ground rules for her in her car. First condition was: no straight A's in school, and cop any kind of attitude with us, then NO car. She breezed right through this condition. Next up was: you had better drive like I show you (luckily I'm a part-time driving instructor for my employer), then the car gets taken away. She knows that if she gets ONE TICKET, or an accident that is her fault, then the car will be immediately sold & she can take public transportation or catch a ride from a friend. Since she drives a Honda (with airbags everywhere), it will sell FAST, and she knows it. She knows I follow through on everything I say, unlike her Mom, so so far, so good!

She also knows that there is no "publc transportation" sign on the side of her car either, so she is not to give rides to any friends unless asking us first. But then again, she also knows that whatever she wants has to be earned, it will never be just given away....and that whatever is earned can be quickly taken away as well (as she found out with her cell phone & makeup after popping off to her Mom).


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Goodness. Straight A's? I'd still not be driving


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Posted By silverstatespecialties on 26 Jul 2009 05:17 PM 

I taught my daughter how to drive last year, and set many ground rules for her in her car. First condition was: no straight A's in school, and cop any kind of attitude with us, then NO car. She breezed right through this condition. Next up was: you had better drive like I show you (luckily I'm a part-time driving instructor for my employer), then the car gets taken away. She knows that if she gets ONE TICKET, or an accident that is her fault, then the car will be immediately sold & she can take public transportation or catch a ride from a friend. Since she drives a Honda (with airbags everywhere), it will sell FAST, and she knows it. She knows I follow through on everything I say, unlike her Mom, so so far, so good!

She also knows that there is no "publc transportation" sign on the side of her car either, so she is not to give rides to any friends unless asking us first. But then again, she also knows that whatever she wants has to be earned, it will never be just given away....and that whatever is earned can be quickly taken away as well (as she found out with her cell phone & makeup after popping off to her Mom).


AMEN! And thank you for being a parent. I wish more people had your mentality - maybe we'd all be better off. I can't wait for the next generation of kids to start running this country, when they've never had to run their own lives, because mommy and daddy did it for them. I wonder who will give them everything they want then? Or will they just decide to take it all from me?


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Had a really stupid and tragic incident here in San Diego yesterday. A guy riding a bicycle, with his 4-year-old daughter on the back, went around the crossing gate and got creamed by a trolley. The guy's in the hospital and the innocent kid died.


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