Join the discussion on the following article:
FRA and Maine DOT to test trespass detection system
Are you kidding? Video anf camera? Unless the human masscarades as a deer…one shpuld be able to tell the difference.
Peter, how is that a violation of our rights? This is no different than a camera at a jewelry store, or having cops called if somebody intrudes your home. The railroad is private property and deserves the same kind of treatment as any other private company’s or person’s property.
My security system at my house does the same…private property is private property.
Can it tell the difference between a human and a deer?
It is a slippery slope issue. Security versus our rights. The argument that we forfeit our rights when we violate those of others only clouds matters further.
Probably too expensive but they should consider fencing the ROW in high incident areas. Passive restraint could eliminate some of this problem. Still done to some extent in G.B.
“PETER M BENHAM from NEW YORK said:
It is a slippery slope issue. Security versus our rights. The argument that we forfeit our rights when we violate those of others only clouds matters further.”
Only when government does it. Private individuals and the private sector have a right to protect their property. Government on the other hand does not have the right to spy on the citizen. Of course, now that over 50% of the country believes the Constitution is irrelevant, expect government to spy on people.
My solution to the trespassing problem is simple. 600 volts DC. Of course if you don’t have access to DC power, AC works too. Single or three phase. How effective are electric fences? Ask any milk cow after she makes her first and last encounter with an electric fence.
@PETER M BENHAM - Unauthorized visitors to a rail line is a major safety hazard. People wouldn’t even dream of just wandering around an Interstate but somehow see trains as less of an issue.
This isn’t about rights or slippery slopes - well, it’s kinda like the latter in the sense that if you owned a hill, and one side of it were slippery, and people kept saying “Gee, that hill looks nice, it’s a hill so it can’t belong to anyone, I’m going to go up and climb it and argh oh noes my neck is broken”, then you’d probably want some minimal security for that too.
@PETER M BENHAM - given the video will do nothing except show that the accident-victim-and-trespasser was at the scene of the accident, which would, in the absence of the video, be confirmed by the emergency services who pick the victim up and rush them to hospital, I’m not sure cameras will make any difference.
OK, do you want your security video used against you in court if someone gets hurt trespassing on your property? That sounds odd, but this is 2013.
There are no rights here. Trespassing on private property is not a right.
If you want to make it easier to tresspass on private property, do something to neuter lawsuits. Before the fear of lawsuits, people were more relaxed about this.
@JEFFERY GUSE - You don’t need to talk to cows to realize that a system to electrocute trespassers isn’t really an appropriate solution when the aim is to prevent people from getting killed by walking in front of moving trains.
Moo.
It is pretty sad some people are so stupid, the railroads have to put up a security system so the stupid humans won’t get run over by trains.
Maybe some of these comments are coming from city folks who don’t know about electric fences. They shock animals (human of bovine) who touch them. They do NOT electrocute.
How many of you as a kid in the 40s walked on railroad tracks? You used your sense of eyesight and hearing to avoid moving trains. How often did you look at the railroad signals to see if a train was coming? I remember listening to the approaching NWP train climbing the grade along the Eel river and waiting for a picture next to the tracks. Also waiting for the next Sacramento Northern train next to my Junior High School. The rule of the day was not “Don’t get caught”, but “Respect the force of the train”. Somehow, I survived.
Why is it that we are now encased in a legal morass that says that there is no more personal responsibility?