I can't think of an instance where a pedestrian fatality is the fault of the train. Trains have the right of way, they are huge, stop slowly, are loud and can be felt coming by a rumble in the earth. It's like being in the safari and thinking it is a good idea to walk into the path of an elephant stampede. A significant number of these types of cases are found to be suicide. If it was truly accidental in this case, then all I can say is people need to pay attention. It's not as though there is no warning.

I think we really need to have a safety campaign for students and citizens in L.A. about railroad tracks. As Bottleneck Blog pointed out, the Blue Line has an atrocious rate of deaths from pedestrians and cars compared to other commuter rail lines. The thing is though the Blue Line is not much different in terms of grade crossings from many other lines.

I took the South Shore train from Michigan City into Chicago and that thing ran right down the middle of towns for long stretches and you don't hear so many problems there. I think people there understand trains, and we need to foster that here. Walking across tracks with iPods and cars getting stuck under railroad crossing bars is not acceptable behavior.

About the scenario of a blind and deaf person crossing a track with a failed crossing bar, I think such a person could still avoid the train since their sense of feeling would be heightened. As I mentioned, trains produce ground vibration, especially heavy trains like the Metrolink and freight trains.

So even if I stand corrected on vibration detection (although I can say having stood very near trains I can sure as hell feel it), that Texas incident is a case of someone without hearing walking on the railroad while sending text messages. Why?! It's sad yes, but again this is the sort of thing that is highly preventable without any kind of additional safety measures by the train lines. People should not be walking by the rails, people shouldn't try to beat the train crossing guards.

Since most train deaths are people running into or putting them selves in front of trains, I think we need to educate people to understand and respect trains. No amount of safety guards can prevent every accident, as seen by people climbing multiple security fences and numerous warning signs only to be hit by a roller coaster at an amusement park.