I take the commuter train, not a metro but a real train. We run on normal train tracks, with other trains. So here it goes.
How fucking stupid are you? Can you not hear the damn train, can you not see the big metal thing moving at a high rate of speed? Do you not hear the ticket agent yelling at you to not cross the fucking tracks?
So why is it that every day, some out of shape sloth who thinks they are Ben Johnson breaking the world record in the 100 meter dash cross in front of the train? You do know that there are other trains on the tracks that may not slow down. They could be moving 70mph, do you honestly think that you can beat that?
Damnit, just fucking wait. I don’t want to see you smashed into a pancake right in front of my eyes. If it is the commuter train, they will stop and you can walk around the front of the train. We have a line so you would still get on last any fucking way so there is no reason to rush. All it takes is one slip, or getting your leg stuck between the tracks and the walkway, or any number of other things that could cost you your life.
Did you not think that the engineer can see out the front? He/she will get to see your impending doom, do you really want to give them nightmares for the rest of thier life? Come on, we’ve all see a deer get hit while we’re on the train, it’s not pretty, you’re going to be even uglier if you get hit. Plus I don’t want to sit around for hours waiting for the police to decide if you commited suicide or not. Fucking learn to think people.
One of these days I’m gonna snap, every fucking morning some jerkwad thinks they can out run the train. This morning had to be the worst, some older woman saw the train only a few hundred feet away and ran across the tracks. I don’t think she was missed by more then 20-30 feet, had she left a split second later she would have been toast. I’m all for thining the stupid people, but I sure don’t want to have them splattered all over me.
There was some show on a cable channel about train wrecks and so on, that I was watching. I was surprised to see a familiar scene in one of the clips - the train station I used to get on at a few years previous. Someone had set up a video camera to film some antique-type train that would be coming by later. Instead, he caught an accident. You see two people who’d gotten off the stopped commuter train, a man and a woman. They walk forward in front of the train at the crossing, and begin to cross, ignoring the fact that the gates are down (typical) and that the bells are ringing (not typical). What not everyone realizes is that if the bells are ringing, a moving train is approaching the intersection. This particular line has three tracks, the middle track is a passing one. It happened to be that day that the moving train which was setting off the warning bells was on that track, heading in the same direction that the stopped train had been, so it was hidden. The man looked past the stopped train, then stepped back quickly. The woman doesn’t, you see her continue as another train comes into view, then the film is stopped there. She died, of course. This isn’t uncommon - to the point where passing trains blow their horns too - but people still run across the tracks even when they know a train is coming, even on days where the crossing is slick with rain or snow. I saw several people do it on a day when someone had been struck by the train only one stop up the line, and there were delays trying to deal with the accident scene, and announcements at the station.
What is amazing is just how many people don’t realize that you can’t stop a fully loaded train in 300 feet or so… it can take way more than a mile to bring it to a standstill.
The antiwar protester a few years back who got run over kept complaining about how the train WOULDN’T stop…when in reality, it COULDN’T stop.
There have been stories in the local papers about the Arlington Heights Train Station - and the upset commuters yelling at the police that are stationed there during commuter rush hour who will NOT allow them to cross the tracks when the gate is down. Even if it means they miss their train, the cops keep 'em back. While I will agree it seems as though it’s a waste of police resources, I still find it hilarious!
I saw a sting where cops would stand on the boarding side of the tracks and just watch people cross - then grab them after they did and write all of them tickets. $500 fine or some number of hours of community service.
As for the Darwinism arguments - it still means that those of us who know to not cross the tracks when the gates are down/lights and bells are going may be late to work when one of the “I can beat the train” types messes up.
. . . and we had a woman dragged to death on the subway tracks this week because she was trying to hold the door open and squeeze herself into the car. This happens too frequently—last night on my way home I saw a woman change her mind and hop off the train just as the doors closed, coming within half-an-inch of getting her coat and bag caught. She wasn’t even on the wrong train, just wanted a less-crowded car!
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mind these idiots being dragged to a well-earned death, but they nearly made me late getting home.
For the most part, I’d agree, but what we really need to compliment this is a law that would let the state execute the offspring of people who die in stupid accidents.
“Sorry, son, but your mom tried to run in front of the train and got killed. Now we gotta off you, to prevent the gene pool from getting contaminated.”
Every year, the main 4th of July fireworks event in the city where I live is held at a park near the river that separates the city and outlying communities. Although many other of the smaller communities have their own fireworks shows, this main event is usually mobbed, since firing them off over the river gives a really good view. As you can imagine, the park and the surrounding area gets gridlocked with people trying to find places not only to park, but to sit as well. Everyone wants a good view.
Running past the park are a set of active train tracks, used by relatively high-speed trains (40mph+). A year or two ago, someone called in to our local newspaper (which has a feedback section called the SaySo) the day after the show to complain about the fact that the police doing security at the fireworks event were actively preventing people from putting lawn chairs on the train tracks.
Lawn chairs. On the train tracks.
Dear Og.
These people were angry about being prevented from sitting in the path of trains that go through at 40mph and take over a mile to come to a stop. Fucking idiots.
Ferret Herder, I saw that video the whole way through in a safety class one day, I believe it happened in Downers Grove, but I’m not sure.
Anyway, the woman in question, literally explodes when the train hits her. Every limb in every direction. It was something to see.
This kind of thing just makes me giggle. I don’t weep for humanity at all, the battle against stupidity and ignorance has become entertainment for me, plus, it keeps me working.
Well, I had this winter coat once with inlaid strings you could tighten for a more snug fit, and the strings had these plastic spring-clips on the ends, and one time I got one caught in some subway doors.
Fortunately, I was inside the car, and beyond having to stand there until the next stop and enduring giggles from my fellow passengers, no harm was done.
OK, this is a hijack since it’s not about trains but about police trying to prevent people from doing stupid things. Down her in Southern Louisiana, we tend to get hurricanes and some brilliant engineers designed several major roadways (also know as EVACATION ROUTES) that have deep dips and flood before each storm. During one such event, a police officer was stationed just before one of these flooded areas to stop people from entering. The water was deep enough to where your car would get totally covered and there is no way in hell you could ever drive through it.
So along comes Mr. Idiot who is stopped by Officer Friendly. Office Friendly tells Mr. Idiot that he can’t go this way, it’s flooded and he must find another route. Mr. Idiot proceeds to tell Officer Friendly how he doesn’t have time for all of this and has to be somewhere and then proceeds to drive straight into flooded area where his car promptly disappears. Mr. Idiot then climbs on car and starts yelling at Officer Friendly to swim out and save him.
Officer Friendly’s response amounted to “Go F yourself”
I have long ago given up on people and am waiting for the roaches to take over.
Well it must have been a really close call yesterday as the ticket agent was outside telling people not to cross today. People still wanted to run across the tracks! He did stop one person by grabbing them.
I also heard on the radio that the woman who did it yesterday got a stern talking to by one of the conductors. I’m sure she felt like she was in the right. They’ve also put up, but not turned on, these huge lights and horns. I know it’s not going to stop anyone, it’s all a waste of money.
)