Monday just before 3pm a 15 year old was killed while walking on CN tracks in Fenton, Mi. She was walking west, the train was west bound and couldn’t stop. She looks to have had headphones on and never heard a thing. Very similar to the 17 year old killed about a mile west on the same tracks a few years ago. She was also wearing head phones and texting except she walked west and the CN freight was headed east. It sometimes seems that electronics are a curse.
Bob
Welcome to OLI’s recurring nightmare.
Flint news says a second one last night. A 63 year old man was hit near the US 23 underpass. Two in two days.
“But I never see trains there…”
Walking and driving - electronic devices lead to distraction, a leading cause of death.
Although I hate to say this, it was an appearent suicide.
While it very well may have been a suicide; however, electronic devices and ear buds create a separate world for those using them and they are totally out of touch with the real world that can easily and quickly kill them.
On what facts do you base this, Norm? If she were looking at the train & showed awareness of it, then I might agree that your suicide theory has merit. Since she was looking away from the approaching train and paying attention to her electronic devices, it looks more like a simple, tragic lapse in judgment. Of course we’ll probably never know.
Tom
I have zero info on this besides what I’ve read here.
But I would opine that there may have been other signs - notes, comments to friends & family, texts, etc, that may have signalled her intentions.
Unless the authorities let something like that out, you’ve got it - we’ll never know. So it goes in the lapse of judgement category. Not the first, and likely far from the last.
So sad, too.
Edit: It was a high school freshman. From the Tri County Times:
[quote]
After reviewing the video footage from the front of the train, Slater said investigators believe the train sounded its horn, but Lane did not attempt to get out of the way of the train. “We believe she had headphones on,” said Slater. “They were found nearby.”
Slater said police have been told that the victim’s friends have been going out to the railroad tracks at the site of the accident. He is urging everyone to stay away from the tracks and right-of-way, which is owned by the railroad.
People are not necessarily aware of the role that their hearing plays in keeping them safe. So they put in ear buds and lose their entire range of hearing of what is around them except for the music. Being on a railroad track with no external hearing and looking in only one direction is a recipe for disaster.
The same thing can happen when walking on a double track with unimpaired hearing. A person sees and hears a train approaching them. At the same time a train is approaching behind them on the other track, but they don’t hear it because its sound is mingled with the sound of they train they see coming at them from ahead. So they step out of the way of the train approaching in front of them, and step into the path of the train approaching behind them.
I find that sometimes as a parent I have to tell my kids the obvious. And then I remind myself what is obvious to me, a mature adult, may not be obvious to a teen. Look both ways before crossing the street. Don’t walk on railroad tracks… my kids roll their eyes every time I say it but stories like this make me feel as if I can’t say it often enough.
I’m inclined to agree with Tom. The train struck this young teen, probably wearing a headset, from behind. Teens are careless and tend to feel invulnerable. Without some clear indication, suicide seems unlikely. Sad.
It doesn’t stop.
Sir C - The public will see “a train”. Rail fans see 11 motors. I hope his next job doesn’t involve sharp instruments…
Go to WSOC 9 news in Charlotte NC and see the news about a crash in Gaston County on Friday.
It appears that the 63 year old may have had a bit too much to drink. He was laying “on or near” the tracks. There is a bar a short distance from tracks. Had someone with him who took off, probably had also had a couple. State Police used a chopper, found him as well as the person that pointed a laser at the chopper. Both had an ‘interview’ with the police.
[wow] It sure seems that the Darwinian axiom is working to depopulate the shallow end of the gene pool. [:^)]
This was posted on another forum by a railroader I know and trust. I don’t do Facebook but he does. Very sad indeed.
"The girl was in Fenton High School. She went on her smart phone and changed her Facebook “status” to “dead.”
Within five minuets she walked in front of the CN train."
Railroader or not, that is not a conformed post. You are merely passing along possibly self-serving gossip. Such stuff is insensitive to an already grieving family.
