# How do people get hit by trains? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609 "2017-05-14T21:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/61 "2017-05-15T19:10:39Z")
I was at a train stop and stopped my car b/c the arms were down and a train was coming . There was a truck and front of my car and the guy didn’t feel like waiting so he drove through the space ! :smack: I was like WTF ! I pulled my car back when I saw the fool doing this b/c the train was already in sight and I didn’t want to be near that truck if it didn’t made it in time . I guess people are plan stupid or like taking risks with their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/62 "2017-05-15T19:21:31Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > I was at a train stop and stopped my car b/c the arms were down and a train was coming . There was a truck and front of my car and the guy didn’t feel like waiting so he drove through the space ! :smack: I was like WTF ! I pulled my car back when I saw the fool doing this b/c the train was already in sight and I didn’t want to be near that truck if it didn’t made it in time . I guess people are plan stupid or like taking risks with their lives. …So did he make it?! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/63 "2017-05-15T23:27:12Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > She and her friend drive off one morning to go somewhere, it’s heavy traffic tailed back from the intersection and … the friend stops on the tracks. In\* exactly the same spot that, not four weeks previously\*, had seen two other poor middle aged ladies get their brains and body parts splattered all up and down the track. This is not a dumb woman, but -\*\* people get into habits\*\*. 99.99% of the time it’s perfectly fine. Only, if there’s more than 10,000 people a year doing it… (bolding mine) But how do you get in the habit of stopping ON train tracks unless you are a complete and utter moron? I used to go through a level freight train crossing daily where traffic was often backed up from the intersection ahead. I ALWAYS stopped well before the tracks until there was room for me to get all the way across. So did everybody else. What possible advantage would I gain from stopping on the tracks instead? ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/64 "2017-05-15T23:31:54Z")
I mentioned this is the railway signals thread, but when thousands of hoboes crisscrossed North America seeking work, when they weren’t hopping a freight, they walked along the tracks. Many were killed by trains while doing so. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/65 "2017-05-16T00:23:53Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > These are the ones I’ve never understood. You’re driving along, your car is working perfectly fine, you start crossing a set of train tracks, and right there is where your car decides to stall and you can’t get it restarted. How does that happen? Tracks are a form of speed bumps. Any kind of rough terrain can cause a car to stall. And some people stop, and then proceed, and the car stalls as they pull forward. It’s the same phenomenon that causes cars to stall in the middle of intersections-- they are running either too rich or too lean. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I knew a freight train engineer that was one of the strangest people you could ever meet (he had a full grown pet alligator that came when called **and could heal** ). [emp. added] :eek: That’s some alligator! > [@John\_Bredin](#): > > A lot of level crossings aren’t: the tracks are well above the road, and the incline the vehicles have to climb is substantial. I’ve seen some of these crossings marked with signs warning drivers of “lowboy” trucks that they could get hung up on the top of the incline. > Or idiots with body kits that lower their cars. > _ **Speculation** _: vehicles stalled on such crossings because going up a steep-enough incline caused the level of some necessary fluid to go below where the engine needs it. ETA: a little more googling shows that cars stalling going uphill is a thing. 🙂 Yup. That too. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/66 "2017-05-16T00:32:53Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Maybe the driver slows way down to have the tires creep over the rails, trying to minimize damage (real or imagined) to the suspension. That could be one way to make stalling more likely. > Although I lean more toward the SFB explanation. > > - SFB: **S** ewage **F** or **B** rains Or, following old-style standard safety procedure: Stop. Look and Listen. Proceed. Around here, all busses and some large trucks still have to do that at crossings with no gates and lights. So then you are starting up hill from a full stop. Old trucks used to stall sometimes when you did that. > [@Green\_Bean](#): > > (bolding mine) > > But how do you get in the habit of stopping ON train tracks unless you are a complete and utter moron? > > I used to go through a level freight train crossing daily where traffic was often backed up from the intersection ahead. I ALWAYS stopped well before the tracks until there was room for me to get all the way across. So did everybody else. What possible advantage would I gain from stopping on the tracks instead? They have /finally/ fixed an crossing here that had killed several people. Traffic would be moving steadly, then stop. The one car that was crossing at that time would get stuck: sometimes it would get hit. We have quite a few level crossings, and people are used to not stopping accross the lines, but the design and traffic on that one crossing just made it very difficult to predict. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/67 "2017-05-16T01:08:29Z")
People love to congregate on tracks for some reason. A few months ago I was at Vandenberg AFB to watch a rocket launch. There was a big crowd and some railroad tracks. For whatever reason, a disproportionate number of people stood on the tracks despite there being plenty of space available elsewhere. One might think that, even if you really want to check out the tracks, it might be a bad idea to stand there given that you’ll shortly be distracted by a _fucking rocket launch_ and probably not be able to hear a train horn over the noise, but no. Fortunately, the military is well-trained to deal with idiot civvies and sent a guy out to shoo them off. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/68 "2017-05-16T01:11:34Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > :eek: That’s some alligator! Baby was. I have never seen an alligator trained that well before but Skeeter did it. If this sounds like bullshit, ask Terry Bradshaw, the NFL hall of famer and announcer. He was their next door neighbor and knows it too. As for train safety, this thread reminds me of the most macabre British PSA ever produced (that is a very competitive category). If you liked the Hunger Games, you will love this one. I cannot believe someone thought this was a good idea to show on public television but it is actually a pretty good short film as long as you don’t mind child carnage. [The Finishing Line](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slJyhOEo-SY) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/69 "2017-05-16T01:17:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Baby was. I have never seen an alligator trained that well before but Skeeter did it. I think the joke was your “and could heal” typo :). Some kind of [alligator cleric](http://pre05.deviantart.net/1e95/th/pre/i/2016/167/2/b/nara_of_the_merrith_clan___dragonborn_cleric_wip_by_sorathebear-da6iort.png) came to mind, personally… ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/70 "2017-05-16T01:43:14Z")
The comedian Heywood Banks says that you can tell at an early age who is going to be hit by a train. They are the kids who sit at the bottom of a playground slide and can’t figure out why other kids keep banging into them. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/71 "2017-05-16T01:50:08Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I think the joke was your “and could heal” typo :). Some kind of [alligator cleric](http://pre05.deviantart.net/1e95/th/pre/i/2016/167/2/b/nara_of_the_merrith_clan___dragonborn_cleric_wip_by_sorathebear-da6iort.png) came to mind, personally… I don’t think she could cure cancer but seeing a loving and trained alligator certainly made me happy. She could also walk behind her owner on command. ---
**Author:** ![lucid-nonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2acd7d/32.png) [@lucid-nonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucid-nonsense)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/72 "2017-05-16T01:55:28Z")
Apparently, people also get run over trying to crawl under cars or cross between them instead of going around. This is because each coupling between the cars has a little bit of slack to make it easier for the engines to get the train moving – the cars start moving one at a time instead of all at once. So when the engines start moving, the wagons further down the train don’t start moving until all the slack is taken up. In a long train, this can result in wagons suddenly lurching 10-15 feet forward from a dead stop. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/73 "2017-05-16T01:58:48Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > The comedian Heywood Banks says that you can tell at an early age who is going to be hit by a train. They are the kids who sit at the bottom of a playground slide and can’t figure out why other kids keep banging into them. True but it also people that have no sense whatsoever. I used to have to take the commuter rail into Boston for work. The times were very specific and you were SOL if you missed yours at least for the next hour. The station I used only had boarding on one side of the tracks but parking on both sides. You had to be on the loading side before the train arrived. I once witnessed two grown men seeing the train coming in, running as fast as they could down the steps leading to the station and running right in front of the train to make it to the loading side. It was like an action movie because the second one had to dive across to avoid getting hit by the train and it only missed by inches. The funny thing is that the conductor didn’t let them board because what they did was too dangerous. He was right. I honestly thought I was about to witness someone getting crushed by a train. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/74 "2017-05-16T02:04:55Z")
> [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > We have a bunch of stations with parking lots on one side, but you have to catch the train in the other direction on the other side. You can take the stairs/tunnel or bridge and get to the other side in a few minutes, or just take quick sprint across the tracks if you ignore the prominent signs saying “Don’t cross the tracks or you could die!” and such. Of course many people still choose to roll the dice and cross. Midsummer night of 2010, Castelldefels. A train running at appropriate speeds and with the driver doing everything correctly hit a group of 30 people who’d decided to cross the tracks instead of taking the overpass. 13 dead (I find reports in English which list 12; Spanish ones list 13). ---
**Author:** ![Pilgrim\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Pilgrim\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pilgrim_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/75 "2017-05-16T02:26:10Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I used to wonder about that. I mean, I can’t think of a more inhospitable place to take a nap. What isn’t cold, hard, steel is splintery, creosoted wood or sharp, pointy rock and it’s all covered with a layer of filmed over grease or diesel droppings. Then a friend said, “Drunks,” They’re following the tracks home because it’s a known path not requiring any decisions except where to get off, then they get sleepy. Track walkers get cited by the cops around here. Many of the people cited are homeless or drifters. Unlikely to be able to pay a fine. But I understand why walking on tracks is against the code, and the code must be enforced, for the dozens of reasons cited on this thread! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/76 "2017-05-17T13:53:57Z")
I just saw a [Facebook video](https://www.facebook.com/thebashmash/videos/1893763244223991/) showing how people may be hit by trains. [For those who can’t or won’t click, it shows a British guy maneuvering his bicycle through the crossing guards, with predictable results.] ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/77 "2017-05-17T14:29:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I just saw a [Facebook video](https://www.facebook.com/thebashmash/videos/1893763244223991/) showing how people may be hit by trains. > > [For those who can’t or won’t click, it shows a British guy maneuvering his bicycle through the crossing guards, with predictable results.] Actually, not the result I was predicting. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed by that. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/78 "2017-05-17T15:30:44Z")
If you look at that video, you can see the guy giving the finger to the people who were shouting at him. He seems totally unfazed by his near miss. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/79 "2017-05-18T20:22:34Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > If you look at that video, you can see the guy giving the finger to the people who were shouting at him. He seems totally unfazed by his near miss. Not surprising, considering it sounds like he’s saying “I feel like jumping …” before the horn drowns him out. Presumably the rest of that was 'in front of the train." :eek: (Aside: was that video shot with a film camera, or was something else constantly whirring like a film camera?) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609/80 "2017-05-18T20:29:53Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Not surprising, considering it sounds like he’s saying “I feel like jumping …” before the horn drowns him out. Presumably the rest of that was 'in front of the train." :eek: > > (Aside: was that video shot with a film camera, or was something else constantly whirring like a film camera?) It’s a phone camera. You’d have to be pretty drunk yourself to shoot a film camera in vertical mode like that. Don’t know what the whirring sound is. Maybe a vehicle of some sort or perhaps the gate motor itself? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-hit-by-trains/786609.md?page=5)