A 2 year old child was killed this evening, around 5pm, after crawling up to the tracks. The 2 year old boy, who was autistic, had just learned how to open doors, and crawl on the rocks to the tracks. I saw this on Channel 5 news, no other details were available. Apparently the tracks were ran behind his grandmother’s house.
I feel sorry for the family for there lose, but at the same time pissed. that is a tragade that should not have happened. I have children, 3 of them, and when we go out track side, I make sure that they don’t get to close.
I also saw the report on Channel 5. As sad and tragic as this case is, how is it the mother (with her dozen or more face and mouth piercings) of this autistic child did not watch him closely…especially since they live near a railroad track? Excuse me if this sounds cruel, but the mother should have known better and has to live with much of the blame for this tragedy.
2 year old, autistic, and no fence? Sad.
Know of 3 year old - crawled on tracks, had both legs cut off. Mom at work, Dad asleep (worked nights) and child got out of house following pet dog. Railroad had fence along ROW, but vandals took it down as fast as railroad put it up. It was a crossing for them.
Child survived, but parents sued the railroad. They lost.
Mook
The tracks from the TV video look to be 150-200 feet or so from the family’s trailer home. Grandma & Grandpa were said to be “watching” the child. Reports said there IS a fence along the tracks, and what seemed to be a few piles of junk dumped near the fence – but locals had torn a hole in the fence so they could take a shortcut.
Now – how long would a tiny 2-year-old autistic have to be out of someone’s sight to move that distance through some dangerous piles of junk to get to that hole and up onto the tracks? The mother heard the train’s frantic whistle and brakes (according to one radio report) and, sad to say, saw her son get smacked by the locomotive.
There’s an electrical sub-station over by Hwy. 13 between Cedar Rapids and Bertram (I know that from railfanning the CNW in that area). Back in the 90’s two teenagers climbed the sub-station fence and somehow avoided the barbed-wire, got inside, and one proceeded to fry himself to death while the other survived but was medium-rare. Parents sued the power co. - lost.
How long would it take a 2 year old to go that far? Depends on the kid, I guess… and I am not trying to make light of this. Let me explain: When my daughter was 2 (She’s six now) I had to watch her like a hawk, in fact I still do, she gets out of sight faster than anything. In the case of my son, (he’s seven) when he was that age, he was quick, but he had a fear of going to far from me at the time. My daughter didn’t have that fear (and still doesn’t). That being said, someone was NOT paying attention to this kid. If my kids disappear from sight, and dont’ immediately respond to my call for them, even when we are all inside the house, I am investigating what is going on. In fact, last night, we headed out to the park down the street, the kids were on their scooters, and I paused to go back inside to grab my keys, (off the hook inside the door) and VOOM! both of them were down the driveway and at the corner, racing their scooters furiously, I had to run to catch up… So, no, it doesn’t take long for any kid to disappear from sight. That being said, sometimes all it takes is mere seconds of inattention, and those of us here who are parents, or grandparents know this all to well.
I remember that… [sigh]
This is terrible no matter what the details, but sadly isn’t the first or last time we will hear about something like this.
Geez!, a walking 2 year old can move pretty fast, but still, that makes it even sadder…
My take on it is this;
An autistic child is not in any way a normal child and cannot be expected to have even the minimal understanding of danger that a normal child of the same age has.
Therefore, as a special needs child they should never be allowed to play outdoors without CLOSE supervision and some form of area restraint. Grandparents who are not fast enough to chase the child are not an acceptable close supervision.
They make vests with LEASHES for such children, and rather than being cruel, I think that is the best solution here that allows the child to play without running away into danger.
UPDATE FROM NOON NEWS: The boy’s grandparents say they were watching him closely and he disappeared in an instant. But a neighbor interviewed contradicted that story. The neighbor said “Why is the family saying that, that’s not…?” He said those entrusted with watching the boy had to go to the store for a birthday gift and handed off the responsibility of watching the boy to another party. Which failed to do so.
The family is now – here it comes now, everyone – blaming the railroad for not having a fence in place. A RR spokesman responded by saying it would be impossible to erect and maintain a fence on both sides of their lengthy ROW. The mobile home park owner said fencing the trailer park isn’t his responsibility, that individual owners should put up their own fences if they considered it necessary.
Where’s the staging area for ambulance chasers?
Pretty sad PZ. I bet the train with common sense left on track 2 and left a bunch of folks on the platform shaking their heads.
I’m reminded of a local family whose child wandered outside and disappeared. Despite the fact that a river known to hide its dead runs along their backyard (no fence). A tracking dog followed a trail directly from the house to the river. They continue to believe the child was abducted.
[banghead] Will it ever end? I’m sick of the victims/friends or family of the victims blaming the railroad for problems caused in part by their own stupidity.
I mean yes I feel bad for the family and what happened, but they should’ve been way more responsible about the child.
And can you imagine what the crew of that train is probably going through right now? They just saw their train run a small toodler over. That’s scarring. Especially when they had no way of preventing it. So I feel for the crew more than the family, who was a LOT more at fault.
Hence my original post, no fence?
I consider it the families responsibility to fence in their own yard, irregardless of the RR, AND to put childproof latches on doors and cabinets, AND to put an audible alarm on the doors to keep tabs on whether the child has gotten out. These are things I would expect with ANY responsible parent who cares for the well being of their child, DOUBLY so for an impared child.
So, what if the child turned left, instead of right, and ended up in the middle of a highway, is it the highway departments responsibility to fence every mile of highway? Jeeez!
When one has a “special needs” child, one needs to be more diligent as a parent, especially because, as stated before, autistic, and some mentally impaired children (and adults, for that matter) do not always understand what danger is. In many cases, their curiosity gets the better of them, and they go off without heed for their own safety, because in many cases, the child cannot understand what it is they are getting into. It is incumbent on the parent, and the other caregivers to make sure that the child is kept safe. I know from experience what it is like to have a child like that. It takes considerable vigilance to keep a child like that safe. The CANNOT be left on their own, or left alone for ANY length of time.
It is a heart rendings story to hear, and it is all over the news around here. My heart goes out, not only to the family, but to the members of the train’s crew. I can only imagine what they are going through.
The local paper this morning indicated there was a fence and the child crawled thru a hole. I havent heard anything about the grandparents leaving.
It doesnt take too long for a child to disappear. My oldest will graduate this summer from university. When he was 3 or 4 we were at Christmas Eve church services. After the services he was with us as we talked with other adults. Then, HE WAS GONE…just like that.
My wife and I frantically searched the entire church and he wasnt there. For 15 minutes it was absolutely the worst feeling in the world. Finally, we drove to the local police station and reported it. The police said he was there (2 blocks from church). Our son had wondered out of the church and walked around the downtown. A local merchant saw him and took him to the police dpt.
Lucky? You bet. Negligent? Possibly. Sometimes things happen so darned fast.
That event certainly changed how I controlled events when we were in public places.
So, I am not going to sit here and bash parents because of piercings, nor grandparents because there is a hole in their fence in Gary, In. They have plenty on their minds today, as does the crew of NS 856 ( I heard part of the scanner communications), the police, responders and everyone else. The anger at NS is natural, their anger at themselves is probably far greater and should be addressed at some time.
ed
in the case I know of personally - the railroad offered the family a very good settlement - the child would have been taken care of for the rest of his life - medically. But the parents didn’t seem to want to consider the child’s future needs and sued for more money.
Ergo - there are parents out there that think of children as furniture rather than children. A bargaining chip. And they were truly the losers as was the child. I am wondering if that would have happened in this day and age, would the sleeping parent - who was supposed to be babysitting and fell asleep - if he would have been charged with child neglect?