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Rail Runner trains slowed down in response to recent bicyclist fatalities
The trains were only traveling at 35 MPH, not 65 MPH.
The only solution is to put all the sidewalks in protective tubes like a HabiTrail.
I see this every single day I go to work, people walking, biking, or driving around gates, also quiet zones are terribly unsafe.
Put a little crossing gate on the sidewalk like the BNSF racetrack Metra crossings have, if you cant fix stupid, at least control them, the Racetrack has multiple crossings with 3 Mains with lots of express and rarely crossing incidents happen, unless people in that part of the country are just smarter than that other part of the country.
Oh BTW, the “Racetrack” is almost Entirely a “Quiet Zone”!
The railroad has been in Santa Fe since February 1880. If people don’t know about it by now, no flag person can save them from ignorance.
What 90 days to complete a review of the crossings?? The answer is obvious and already done in many, many places and that is to also actuate gates which block the sidewalks as well as the road. DUH!!
NOBODY should be held responsible for someone on a bicycle, that gets hits at a marked crossing. except for that person. How can any adult not see a train comming? The RR’s should sue that person (or their estate) for damages and mental anguish. Put the blame where it rightfully belongs
Unless the train derails, any driver, cyclist or pedestrian who gets hit by a train deserves it!
I also agree with JWR 100%.
Mr. Regan from PA is absolutely correct. 20 years ago a guy I worked with summed it up perfectly: “I shot my father so now you have to pay to take care of me”. You can’t fix stupid; and it just gets worse and worse.
Further proof that whenever there is a bicycle “incident” it is always somebody else’s fault. I moved away from Sausalito, CA after 38 years of living there because the constant daily invasion of bicyclists who obey NO traffic laws. I suppose the bicyclists are now expecting trains to get out of their way.
People will drive into the broad side of a train.
If lights & bells aren’t enough, will flaggers and a slow pace do the job?
I’m thinking there is a differential treatment here. That stuff doesn’t exist for many normal roads & bike crossings.
I suspect that it might still not matter much if there were crossing gates. If people ignore the fairly obvious signs & signals, it’s really hard to feel sorry for them.
With warning bells and lights, it seems people have to take responsibility for their actions. Do cars have to travel at 15 mph?
The solution here to to revoke that ridiculous “quiet zone.”
Actually it’s amazing. No fewer than five agencies to review crossings. And that’s not counting what I’m certain will be outrageous consulting engineering companies fees to validate the agencies findings. I’m pretty down in the dumps today, but stories like Rhys always give me a good laugh
The dumbing down of this country just keeps on going. No one pays attention to anything anymore, and, instead of placing blame where it belongs, we take to solutions like this.
You can’t fix stupid. Most bikers and pedestrians wear headphones now and are oblivious to their surroundings. It seems they have the belief that everyone else should watch out for them. I have seen bikers riding through red lights and pedestrians crossing on green and they flip you off like it is your fault. Gates will not work because they will go around them just like cars do.
What ever happened to common sense? If the gates are down and bells are ringing, wouldn’t that tell you something is happening like A TRAIN IS COMING!!!. Do people (the STUPID ONES) think the bells and gates are for auto traffic only and step in front of a moving train? Well if they do then they deserve what happens to them. Now the train will take longer and a bunch of additional people will have to protect the STUPIDS from crossing the tracks. Up goes the cost of operation.
Always blame the train - ridiculous. Next they’ll have a guy with a bell and flag walking in front of the trains. Why can’t bicyclists and others learn to “stop, look, and listen?”