Today I'm writing about this article on a boy that got hit by a train.
footage-released-of-boy-being-hit-by-train Via NineMSN 15:30 AEST Fri Aug 26 2011
When I first read that title I was like, 'no way are they going to show some kid getting killed!' Of course, they didn't. The lucky ass kid survived. I hope he didn't lose too many brain cells because frankly, he needs them.
Obviously I'm not sitting in my chair gleefully rubbing my hands together at the prospect of people getting hit by trains, but at the risk of 'victim blaming' I'm still going to say that if you run over train tracks, you're kind of asking for it.
No, you probably can't out run a train. No, you really shouldn't try anyway. No, you can stay behind the gosh darned boom gates when a train is coming. No, the train does not care if you are five minutes late to wherever you're going. No, the train cannot stop in time or swerve to avoid you. No, you don't stand a damn chance. No, the Darwin Award is *not* a good prize to receive.
I'm just sick of reading these things and hearing them on the telly or radio. What on earth makes people decide to take these risks? In the article, it mentions that the kid in question wanted to talk to a girl on the other side. Really? Trying to impress her with your super speed? It's not a common fact, but sometimes approaching a member of the opposite sex like a normal freaking human being can be effective. I know that if someone just got up, and sprinted over the tracks randomly to get to me, I would switch over to anti-rage virus zombie mode.
Actually, I really would. It's a little scary how much zombies inhabit my mind (<-- Ha! Brain humourz!) but scarier to imagine living in ignorance about it. Besides, if there was a girl there, why did the boy have to wait for a transit worker to find them and then call for help? Unless she really had run away in zombie inspired fear, why wouldn't she have called for help if she'd witnessed it?
Of course, I am aware that some of these incidents are not the fault of some reckless idiot. Vehicles getting stuck in the tracks well before a train comes along, people falling through the gap between the train and the station, faulty signals and other situations can all cause injuries and fatalities.
It's just that there are an awful lot of recent news stories about people doing incredibly stupid, stupid things around train tracks. I've heard a lot of people blame the areas for being 'unsafe' which in some places, may be the case but it's still annoying. I still remember the 'stay behind the yellow line' campaign from school like it was yesterday. Do they not teach it still?
Why should we as a country fork out more money to 'fix' or 'idiot proof' some train stations? There's no way extra barriers will keep people that are determined to 'save a bit of time' by doing the wrong thing. Maybe if they were barriers made of guard dogs, razor wire and automatic pepper spray canisters that had cameras on them so eventually when you are able to see and breathe again you can come home to a hefty fine and some sort of lettered patch to sew onto your shirt so everyone can tell you're a freakin' prat from a mile away.
Honestly, it would just be cheaper (and more reasonable) to step up education of the unwashed masses regarding how to use a train station properly.
dead-teen-may-have-been-train-surfer - The Daily Telegraph
A TEENAGER whose body was found lying beside rail tracks yesterday may have been "train-surfing" when he fell to his death.
Train-surfing, which involves participants balancing on top of trains moving at high speed, has been popularised by videos and photos posted online.
"There are times when people lose their lives trying to cross the line and there are times when they use the railway to take their own lives but what happened here is a matter for police," a spokesman said.
train-game-puts-teens-lives-at-risk - News.com.au
The teenagers wait until they see a train coming and lie on the tracks just before they are hit, Sky News reports.
One young man explained what attracted him to the alarming activity.
"To me, it's a way to do acrobatics by risking ourselves in a heroic way there at the bridge," he told Sky News.
There have been no reported deaths so far, but at least two youths have been injured in what has been dubbed "The Train Game".
This one time, this guy like, totally jumped in front of a pack of babies to protect them from this wild grizzly bear that inexplicably appeared. No one really cared though, because there are sooo much more heroic things to do in this world.. Like lie in front of a train and give the conductor a heart attack. *sigh*
Okay, so this is a transcript, but did they really have to go word for word with all the 'really, reallys' and 'like, totallys'? I felt like I just aged a decade after reading that. I'm glad these girls aren't letting their amputations from this incident affect their lives more than it has to, in a way, that's pretty inspiring. However, I just cannot fathom why anyone would actually lie down on a train track to 'chill out'. They didn't mean to fall asleep, but why couldn't they have just sprawled out on the ground nearby the train tracks instead of the actual train tracks themselves?
Girl-risks-death-by-lying-between-rail-tracks - Telegraph Co UK
The stunt is photographed by a friend while a group of youths can be seen in the background encouraging the girl.
After the train passes just inches from her head, the teenager is seen walking from the tracks, grinning as two female friends and a male photographer looks on.
One of the most dangerous forms of trespass is known as "playing chicken", where youngsters deliberately stand in the path of a train travelling at speed, before moving out of the way at the last possible moment.
Along with a buttload of new braincells... may I also suggest some better friends?
Level_crossings on Wikipedia
List_of_level_crossing_accidents on Wikipedia
technology-can-end-rail-crossing-smashes via ABC news
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