Natural Selection?

I have to agree...you have to go out of your way and TRY to get hit by a train. It's not like 20 tons of steel moving at 70MPH can sneak up on you!!
...Darwin is hard at work.

This user's post has been ignored.

Most deaths by train are suicide. And I'm distinctly uncomfortable linking people in that kind of torment with natural selection. The others tend, statistically speaking, to be young, and yes, a little careless with their lives. Can you really say that you NEVER took a stupid risk as a teenager? The next most common reason is double trains -trains on both tracks. The first one passes and people assume the danger has passed, and get hit by a second train that was there all along, but the noise was masked. You have to remember that out here in the country there are many level train crossings with no flashing lights, no barriers -just a warning sign. You're supposed to know to stop and look, but what if you're new to the area and don't know that there's a track there? What if it's dark and you miss it?

In Chicago and major urban areas, you have to add that, on average, 2 or 3 people are killed every year falling from train platforms and being run over by trains.

These statistics are easily and publicly available -and they leave out the spectacular and fortunately rare situations were dozens of people are killed at once in train crashes or derailments.

Andrea

Edited by Andrea 2004-11-02 8:45 AM

We used to live in Glen Ellyn and St. Charles before moving to MA. We had a friend who drove the commuter trains in Chicago. It was eerie to hear from his wife sometimes....another fatality so Chuck will be home late. It does happen on a regular basis. My understanding was that a lot of people just want to beat the train because prior to the station it goes slow.

I remember being in downtown Glen Ellyn by the train tracks and would see maybe upwards of 20-30 people dart around the crossing arms as they started to come down. Stupid? Yes.

Kathy

No matter why or what the circumstances are. A loss of a human life is sad



Hmmmm, that's a tough one. But I see your point for sure.



My point exactly. When I was a teenager, I absolutely did take "stupid" risks in my , it's part of growing up. But I was smart enough to not take life threatening risks! Consequently, I survived being a teenager without being "naturally selected."

If a tiger cub is "careless" with their life and gets killed, that is natural selection. Additionally, if it did not have any offspring yet, then the selection process is 100% effective.



This is the EXACT reason I started this discussion because of the "next most common reason" you state. I see people crossing the tracks all the time with the lights on and the barriers down. Is waiting 30 seconds really going to make a difference in your life? Probably not, but getting hit by a train by not waiting those 30 seconds WILL make a huge difference in your life and those who knew you.

Flashing lights and barriers all over the place where I'm talking about...no excuse.

Plus, all the trains that hit pedestrians have REALLY bright headlights (sometimes 3 of them and 1 of them rotating around like a siren) in addition the commuter trains have red and white REFLECTIVE paint on the front of them. Again, no excuse, period.

Explaination? Natural Selection.



Ok, hold on a sec. "new to the area and don't know that there's a track there?" how is that possible? Remember these are pedestrian hits I'm talking about.

If you can honestly say that you believe that people (pedestrians) get to a railroad crossing and "don't know there's a track there" then I can honestly say . . . . "Natural Selection."



I assume you mean "miss" the tracks. Again, is it really possible for a pedestrian to MISS the tracks? You have to try really really hard to MISS a railroad crossing.

And if you do "miss" the railroad crossging, then a natural selection event may occur.



I'm not referring to these incidents. These are sad accidents, which are sometimes linked to a natural selection event and sometimes not.



I'm not referring to these incidents either.

Yep. That's what I see all the time too.

Natural Selection just waiting to happen.

Apparently, one less than yesterday!

Ok, now people at work think I'm really really weird now as a random, loud laughter has just erupted from my office...disrupting all those within earshot.

"that damn triathlon freak over there..." they think to themselves as they shake their heads

This pretty well sums it up. {RANT}Suicide not withstanding(low sympathy level), you have to be a complete idiot not to notice, hear, see, feel(yes, dem trains make da ground shake!) a freakin train coming!!! Also, as far as the "level" tracks, two big parallel steele beams lying on the ground should be a small clue that a train MIGHT be on the way! Small children playing on the tracks; tragic yes, especially when they are involved in an accident, but I think the parents should be blamed too, I think it is incumbent on the parent to fill kids in on these "real life" dangers and teach them some common sense thinking skills. If the kids are too young for this, they SHOULD NOT be playing out of the sight of the parent!!!!! {end rant}