Person Hit by Train at Chinook Station

[Coach]

Amsterdam trains are much slower, but they're so quiet it doesn't surprise me there are at least a few deaths per year. I was walking there, turned around and a car was literally feet from me and I had no idea it was there.

Also, Amsterdam (and Europe in general) has much more of a pedestrian culture than a driver culture. People are just used to paying attention between traffic circles, tiny roads built for horses and carriages, bike lanes, and mass pedestrian traffic, everyone is actually watching where their going. We're so conditioned on lights and signals that if any of those go out, some people have no idea what to do with themselves.

[Daradon]

Wouldn't 10 deaths a year actually be higher than Calgary's rates? Especially per capita?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

An average of 10 pedestrians a year are killed by trams in Amsterdam.

Okay, perfect, problem solved.

Living in Cities comes with some hazards and Light Rail Transit kills more people than Sharks.

People in cities are going to get killed by trains, its gonna happen, just roll with it.

Its like living on a farm, occasionally you're going to lop an arm off with a saw or get run over by livestock. It happens. They're just hazards we have to deal with.

[speede5]

Maybe you need to look at prevention in a different way, the train operators need to try and prevent these accidents, not just to prevent loss of life but to protect their employees and customers from the trauma caused by running someone over in your train.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by speede5

Maybe you need to look at prevention in a different way, the train operators need to try and prevent these accidents, not just to prevent loss of life but to protect their employees and customers from the trauma caused by running someone over in your train.

Like what? Its not like they can dodge people.

Its the blessing and curse of trains. They're on tracks. And they're either moving or they're not. Those are some pretty strict limits.

Trains have to be the single most predictable methods of travel in existence. They're on tracks. They stop at stations. When they cross intersections there are lights and bells and those mechanical arm thingies.

I dont see what a driver can do beyond hitting the brakes.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Locke

Like what? Its not like they can dodge people.

Its the blessing and curse of trains. They're on tracks. And they're either moving or they're not. Those are some pretty strict limits.

Trains have to be the single most predictable methods of travel in existence. They're on tracks. They stop at stations. When they cross intersections there are lights and bells and those mechanical arm thingies.

I dont see what a driver can do beyond hitting the brakes.

Clearly, we need to spend trillions of dollars to figure out how to build Astrotrain enmass just to save these few idiots from Darwin's wrath.

. . . it would also help the Space Shuttle program too.

[GGG]

The one thing I have seen drivers do is that when 1 train is leaving at the same time one is coming in is the one leaving blocks the crossing and doesn't leave until the fast moving train has stopped

[Locke]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Clearly, we need to spend trillions of dollars to figure out how to build Astrotrain enmass just to save these few idiots from Darwin's wrath.

. . . it would also help the Space Shuttle program too.

You ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Locke

Like what? Its not like they can dodge people.



Its the blessing and curse of trains. They're on tracks. And they're either moving or they're not. Those are some pretty strict limits.



Trains have to be the single most predictable methods of travel in existence. They're on tracks. They stop at stations. When they cross intersections there are lights and bells and those mechanical arm thingies.



I dont see what a driver can do beyond hitting the brakes.

Maybe not dodge them per se, but obviously there are risky spots around the city and where there is likely to be a blind spot such as when trains are passing each other when leaving or approaching a station.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by speede5

Maybe you need to look at prevention in a different way, the train operators need to try and prevent these accidents, not just to prevent loss of life but to protect their employees and customers from the trauma caused by running someone over in your train.

Giant flashing lights, big yellow textured bars telling you to stand back, all trains blast their horns passing through stations and crossing streets, not to mention it's a huge metal tube that you can literally feel coming.

Not sure what else the operators are supposed to do to let people know trains are coming.

Jaywalkers get hit by cars too. If only there was a way we could protect them better, say, flashing signals that tell you when it's your turn to cross. Maybe it can even make a loud obnoxious noise for blind people.

Or... people can pick their head up when their crossing a street, whether its a train track, road for cars, whether the sign says it's your turn or not, just freaking look.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Locke

Trains have to be the single most predictable methods of travel in existence. They're on tracks. They stop at stations. When they cross intersections there are lights and bells and those mechanical arm thingies.

This! A thousand times this!

Yes, it's traumatic for people other than the person getting hit, and yes it's bad. But accidents happen. People die, and people are around to see people die. And these are about the most preventable of all ways to die in a city already! Your never going to get to zero.

I feel bad for the driver, and the passengers, and the family. But these things happen. And if it wasn't trains, it'd be something else.

Helicopter parents? How about helicopter societies?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Flacker

Which means they can be circumvented, by reached over to the other side. If massive yellow signs saying "Look Both Ways for Trains", have no impact, I see a physical barrier being equally ineffective.

This person didn't circumvent a safety feature. They didn't look properly after stopping. Your assertion that it wouldn't have made a difference in this case is flawed.

A bar that comes down similar to the car barrier would likely work better then signs saying look both way for trains and the a shaped redirection of pedestrian flow. It prevents that first step after the northbound train goes by by forcing you to circumvent the safety gate instead of just walking forward.

Cost would be negligible compared to the 60000 lost hours caused by this incident.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Maybe it can even make a loud obnoxious noise for deaf people.

I'm pretty sure that is there so the blind people know when the light is green.

[Sainters7]

I catch the train at City Hall station, can't believe how many dummies I see jaywalking across that intersection by the library there, especially when a train's coming. It's practically every day. I'm actually surprised there isn't more deaths by C-train.

Just yesterday this scrubby looking guy was sauntering across there in his own little world, meanwhile the train is blasting his horn repeatedly. Finally the guy looks up, snaps back to earth and books it the rest of the way across. How do you even fully stop those people?

Feels bad to say, but purposely jaywalking across an intersection with train tracks and not paying attention at all is the epitome of a Darwin award. I've noticed the trains pulling out of that station tend to blast their horns even when no-one's on the tracks, they're clearly very paranoid about it.




Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[Locke]

Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Stand at attention and be awed at Locke's patented Master Plan!

I call it the Aggressive Social Safety plan!

Do we understand the real reasons why we as a society are having trouble with train safety? Is it the prevalence of social media and our lack of ability to ignore our phones or music or newspaper or whatever? That we so immersed in our little worlds that we continiously ignore the real world to our own detriment?

No!

Is it 'Big Train's' crippling social agenda to brainwash us into eventually living on trains like that movie Snowpiercer? Great film by the way, I highly recommend it.

No! Although I am wary of the train Cartel!

The real issue is that we as a society have made trains too safe!

Yes friends, we have over-safeified trains! Over-safeified is not a word. Yet. But it is now!

We take trains for granted, they are so predicable, generally slow and harmless appearing that we have lost all respect for them and their power. And right now friends, the trains are winning.

So here is Locke's patented Aggressive Social Safety plan! Yes. ASS Plan for short.

We need to respect trains again, and the only way to do that quickly and stop the train-induced bloodshed is through fear!

We have to fear trains again as the mighty metal murder monsters that they truly are!

We've got to paint them aggressively, like fighter planes! Get the teeth and the claws and the angry eyes in there! Get some flames on the side, have them all painted red and black, make them mean looking!

And then every time someone is killed by a train we have to put a stick-man beside the doors on every car like a fighter plane's kills! So when people get on they realize that this train is a killer!

"Oh man, this train has 3 kills, I'd better be paying attention or its going to get me too!"

We can give train drivers cool call-signs and have a scoreboard at every station!

"Oh no! The next train is RailSlaughter's train! That guy is a maniac, he was last year's champ! I'd better have my crap together around this lunatic!"

Problem. Solved.

You're welcome.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Locke

Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Stand at attention and be awed at Locke's patented Master Plan!

I call it the Aggressive Social Safety plan!

Do we understand the real reasons why we as a society are having trouble with train safety? Is it the prevalence of social media and our lack of ability to ignore our phones or music or newspaper or whatever? That we so immersed in our little worlds that we continiously ignore the real world to our own detriment?

No!

Is it 'Big Train's' crippling social agenda to brainwash us into eventually living on trains like that movie Snowpiercer? Great film by the way, I highly recommend it.

No! Although I am wary of the train Cartel!

The real issue is that we as a society have made trains too safe!

Yes friends, we have over-safeified trains! Over-safeified is not a word. Yet. But it is now!

We take trains for granted, they are so predicable, generally slow and harmless appearing that we have lost all respect for them and their power. And right now friends, the trains are winning.

So here is Locke's patented Aggressive Social Safety plan! Yes. ASS Plan for short.

We need to respect trains again, and the only way to do that quickly and stop the train-induced bloodshed is through fear!

We have to fear trains again as the mighty metal murder monsters that they truly are!

We've got to paint them aggressively, like fighter planes! Get the teeth and the claws and the angry eyes in there! Get some flames on the side, have them all painted red and black, make them mean looking!

And then every time someone is killed by a train we have to put a stick-man beside the doors on every car like a fighter plane's kills! So when people get on they realize that this train is a killer!

"Oh man, this train has 3 kills, I'd better be paying attention or its going to get me too!"

We can give train drivers cool call-signs and have a scoreboard at every station!

"Oh no! The next train is RailSlaughter's train! That guy is a maniac, he was last year's champ! I'd better have my crap together around this lunatic!"

Problem. Solved.

You're welcome.

Heh. Could also try outfitting the cars with those old school "cow catchers'.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'm pretty sure that is there so the blind people know when the light is green.

lol whoops! Typo.

[blueski]

We should revert to steam trains with big ass whistles!

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Giant flashing lights, big yellow textured bars telling you to stand back, all trains blast their horns passing through stations and crossing streets, not to mention it's a huge metal tube that you can literally feel coming.

Not sure what else the operators are supposed to do to let people know trains are coming.

Jaywalkers get hit by cars too. If only there was a way we could protect them better, say, flashing signals that tell you when it's your turn to cross. Maybe it can even make a loud obnoxious noise for deaf people.

Or... people can pick their head up when their crossing a street, whether its a train track, road for cars, whether the sign says it's your turn or not, just freaking look.

It's gonna have to be really really loud for them to hear it.

Edit: read a little further, saw it had been pointed out.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Heh. Could also try outfitting the cars with those old school "cow catchers'.

Originally Posted by blueski

We should revert to steam trains with big ass whistles!

Now you guys are getting it! When you see these unwieldy behemoths cruising around town you should be literally terrified of their existence as though they could leap off their tracks and slaughter you!

Get some spikes in there too!