Teenager dies playing chicken with Capitol Corridor train.

[AmtrakBlue]

My first car was a used '68 Camero Convertible (sister bought it new, dad bought it from her when she got a new car). No accidents as a teen, and the one I did have someone made a left turn into me. Oh, wait, I'm female. That makes a big difference. (ask the insurance companies)

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

Get a used Beatle .... Cheap .... Look there is a Huge line between a compact like a focus and a truck ...

NO ONE is entitled to drive ...... Jeez I wish a license was more of a test then a PPL . for light A/C .

Look I had a Very close call with a female Teen with a cellphone a few weeks back ........ ,, THIS is the issue .. there is NO parents whom are willing to punish there teens .. take there Iphone 5 outta there hands .... take the Keys .

If I had one super power it would be to make cars stop working for a hour after some one does some thing stupid that I see.. people get by with WAY to much in there cars

""Honey your Phone is NOT more important then some one elses life ........"""

Heck I wont evin change a song on my MP3 player when I Glide .. I have NO right to put others at risk .

Perhaps I want to force my proper habits on others ..... whom can blame me ..... I follow the law . and I wish others would too..

The day YOU get hit By Mr wonderfull in HS cause he is chatting it up on the phone with his gal . You will be just as ticked as I am ........... We did not have Phones in cars 30 Years ago . We had a the 8 track ..

Distractions are getting worse and parents Care less., its a exponential risk..

Franky I feel that distracted driving ( and phones ) should be treated as attempted murder ....

Your car is as dangerous as a loaded gun .. ... Treat them the same !

To tie this in to the Teen whom was killed ....A life is a Life . one is lost is sad ....

HOwever ....

A teen that splats them self on the front of a train puts only him self at risk of death ... * noted IS the psychological harm to the others *

a teen whom texts while on the freeway puts 10s to 100s at risk of DEATH ...

Ever Seen in front of you a 70 MPH pile up ..... Ekk NO fun .

Kids die not just due to being stupid .. but We dont teach them the Real way some one dies .

Ill Bet NO kids in that teens classes will ever now play chicken with a train for Years to come .

On the same token . We need to show a Real death of some one on a phone driving.. We sugar coat things way to much .

As a researcher I would be interested in seeing how many kids still text when there friends die from it . Ill bet the numbers are Very low for a few weeks .

 

[leemell]

I Refuse to put the public at risk ........Or my insurance ....

the few months I did drive in Iowa it was in this HUGE boat callsed a subaru Outback ....... I hated that thing ... It might as well have been a big rig ....

Ya know my dad offerd to buy me a smart car..... I said no ,, . to this day I regret it ! ....

Really? A Subaru Outback is a smallish SUV, there are many vehicles that are bigger to far bigger.

 

[BCL]

I Refuse to put the public at risk ........Or my insurance ....

the few months I did drive in Iowa it was in this HUGE boat callsed a subaru Outback ....... I hated that thing ... It might as well have been a big rig ....

Ya know my dad offerd to buy me a smart car..... I said no ,, . to this day I regret it ! ....

Really? A Subaru Outback is a smallish SUV, there are many vehicles that are bigger to far bigger.

The older versions used to be largish compacts - mostly station wagons although there were some sedan models sold. Only the newer ones seem to be more compact SUVs.

 

[PPorro]

The most dangerous thing I did near tracks when I was young was to put pennies on the rail well before a train would come.

Ha! Me too, at least until my brother, who was attending MSU in East Lansing, MI at the time, got arrested, (charges later dropped) for doing the same, and "defacing US currency".

While MOST of the time I agree with the Darwin-comments, when it involves teenagers, it is hard to swallow.

And yes, the crew and parents suffer the most. I was in cab, (not at throttle) when a motorcyclist decided to try and beat the train. He lost, INSTANTLY.

The sad fact is, "teenagers will be teenagers" and sometimes with deadly results. Bet his friends will be rail-safety concious for the rest of their lives, having experienced that horror.

It's only defacing currency if you intend to defraud or spend it again. Someone was playing loose with the laws, or lying. Ever see one of those penny machines (elongated cents) at National parks, Public museums or tourist sites?

The victim doesn't need sympathy nor can they appreciate it. Dead people don't have feelings or know what we say or think.

I feel sorry for the kid who was foolish enough for playing chicken with a train, but the Darwin award comments do apply. The natural thinning of the herd by their own actions. Unfortunate accident but his own decision, it's his responsibility. I too feel sorry for the innocent crew that will have to suffer guilt through no actions of their own.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

I Refuse to put the public at risk ........Or my insurance ....

the few months I did drive in Iowa it was in this HUGE boat callsed a subaru Outback ....... I hated that thing ... It might as well have been a big rig ....

Ya know my dad offerd to buy me a smart car..... I said no ,, . to this day I regret it ! ....

Really? A Subaru Outback is a smallish SUV, there are many vehicles that are bigger to far bigger.

The older versions used to be largish compacts - mostly station wagons although there were some sedan models sold. Only the newer ones seem to be more compact SUVs.

its longggg .. and wide . I dont care how high ... I had a very hard time backing that thing up ..OR how far the front is from some thing.

and Yes it is a wagon . a Long can fit a national lampoons famely big wagon ..

remember I am autistic/ I have aspergers and it can really screw with vision processing .. I felt like my right side was in a ditch most of the time .

OTOH I do Great in golf cars ..... can See WAY bettter ... case in point If I do drive in the next few years its gonna be a smart or a THINK NEV.... .they are all I need .... .

 

[George Harris]

Stepping back to the teenage driver issue: I think about all that raising the driving age from 16 to 18 will do is push the age of stupid behind the wheel actions up two years.

Maybe my opinion is warped by the fact that I lived in a time and place where you could and I did get my driver's license at 15. Did not have an accident until I was 19, and that one relatively minor. At that time and state you could get a special circumstances license at 14, and being on a farm was considered a special circumstance. That meant that you were not driving some motorized roller skate, but a farm truck. Of course most of these boys had been operating farm equipment since the were 8 or 9, so driving a truck on a road was not really more difficult.

However, at this same time and place, if you did manage to commit some screw up as a teenager, you did not get a free pass on the responsibility issue which seems to be the current mode of operation when any teenager does something stupid.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

However, at this same time and place, if you did manage to commit some screw up as a teenager, you did not get a free pass on the responsibility issue which seems to be the current mode of operation when any teenager does something stupid.

Exactly .

Use a phone while driving .... No license till you are 21 . if the Uber young IS the most at risk of a crash then they need more restrictions and heavy penalty's

 

[SarahZ]

I wouldn't want to be in a Smart car unless another tiny car hits me. I've seen enough crash videos of Smart cars versus other vehicles to convince me I'll never buy anything smaller than a compact. Smart cars might be okay in places where many others have similar cars, like areas of Europe, but in the SUV-obsessed USA? Nope.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

DO people want to wait for the Gov to tell us in a bill or do a heavy car tax ? or should WE the people Man up and just de-escalate and "De eslclade" this SUV binge ... this SUV thing is lie M.A.D warfare .,,

at some point with gas at 10 USD a gallon will you still own a heavy car or truck?

 

[MattW]

If I need the transportation capacity, yes. Or more importantly, if the auto manufacturers keep the vehicles I can fit in limited to larger vehicles, definitely yes.

 

[George Harris]

I wouldn't want to be in a Smart car unless another tiny car hits me. I've seen enough crash videos of Smart cars versus other vehicles to convince me I'll never buy anything smaller than a compact. Smart cars might be okay in places where many others have similar cars, like areas of Europe, but in the SUV-obsessed USA? Nope.

Exactly!!!

I look at a Smart car as being in essence a 4 wheel enclosed motorcycle. That is about the level of protection it gives you.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I wouldn't want to be in a Smart car unless another tiny car hits me. I've seen enough crash videos of Smart cars versus other vehicles to convince me I'll never buy anything smaller than a compact. Smart cars might be okay in places where many others have similar cars, like areas of Europe, but in the SUV-obsessed USA? Nope.

If a Suburban or Yukon or Tahoe slams into a coup or sedan of any size you're still screwed.

You have to laugh at a society that actually thinks we're making the roads safer by putting millions of careless phone-focused drivers in vehicles that are as large and heavy enough to qualify as farm equipment and can travel 100 miles per hour.

 

[MattW]

I wouldn't want to be in a Smart car unless another tiny car hits me. I've seen enough crash videos of Smart cars versus other vehicles to convince me I'll never buy anything smaller than a compact. Smart cars might be okay in places where many others have similar cars, like areas of Europe, but in the SUV-obsessed USA? Nope.

If a Suburban or Yukon or Tahoe slams into a coup or sedan of any size you're still screwed.

You have to laugh at a society that actually thinks we're making the roads safer by putting millions of careless phone-focused drivers in vehicles that are as large and heavy enough to qualify as farm equipment and can travel 100 miles per hour.

And yet, traffic fatalities are on a continuing decline. Something's making us safer.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

And yet, traffic fatalities are on a continuing decline. Something's making us safer.

I'm more likely to ascribe improvements in vehicle death rates to more advanced seat belts, airbags, crumple zones, roll cages, speed bumps, raised medians, increasing fines, DWI campaigns, license points, mandatory helmets, traffic cameras, mandatory child seats and inspections, along with vastly improved testing and data collection methods which helped bring about many of these changes.

If SUV's were really making us safer then US deaths per vehicle mile should be lower than in Europe.

Instead it's the other way around.

 

[SarahZ]

I wouldn't want to be in a Smart car unless another tiny car hits me. I've seen enough crash videos of Smart cars versus other vehicles to convince me I'll never buy anything smaller than a compact. Smart cars might be okay in places where many others have similar cars, like areas of Europe, but in the SUV-obsessed USA? Nope.

If a Suburban or Yukon or Tahoe slams into a coup or sedan of any size you're still screwed.

You have to laugh at a society that actually thinks we're making the roads safer by putting millions of careless phone-focused drivers in vehicles that are as large and heavy enough to qualify as farm equipment and can travel 100 miles per hour.

Yes, I realize that. What I said was I wouldn't want to drive a Smart car for that reason. I never said I'd definitely be safer in a compact or sedan if I wrangled with an SUV. The subject was Smart cars, not Toyota Corollas, and I responded with my opinion about Smart cars. I never said SUVs were safe or my preferred method of transportation.

I'm a frequent user of the IIHS website, and I handle auto claims all day. I'm quite familiar with crush zones, airbags, different kinds of seat belts, cage styles, roll bars, etc. That is where I base my opinion, and it's only an opinion.

You have this nasty habit of putting words into my mouth, and it's tiring.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I think it was a reasonable assumption that you saw a compact car as safer than a smart car because of of their ability to repel SUV's, or something like that. Taking my comments about society as a whole as though they were meant exclusively toward you is not much different IMO. But I'll take it under consideration.

 

[Steel City Don]

Guess the train won....

 

[SarahZ]

I think it was a reasonable assumption that you saw a compact car as safer than a smart car because of of their ability to repel SUV's, or something like that. Taking my comments about society as a whole as though they were meant exclusively toward you is not much different IMO. But I'll take it under consideration.

Sorry. I was cranky and misread what you wrote. :hi:

 

[Texan Eagle]

... And some proof this was not the first nor will be the last accident caused due to someone playing chicken with the train. Today evening on Caltrain #262, the Conductor announced near Bayshore station "Sorry we had to stop abruptly because a young person was playing chicken with the train. Now the trespasser is out of the way and we will resume soon" :angry2:

Good thing the train could stop in time or it would have been another fatality similar to the one being discussed in this thread.

 

[Dan O]

Every time one of these stories gets posted, there is a slew of blame the victim comments. Everyone knows the folly, why is it necessary to add insult to the ultimate injury? Not one note of compassion for the the deaths. After all, Darwin would have gotten rid of them anyway. Well guess what, they have families and friends who mourn their loss and don't have your intellectual and moral superiority. May you never need anyone's compassion.

Michigan Mom,

Basically agree w/ what you said. This is a train board and I have come to expect that the tone is going to be heavily pro train, meaning that when there are accidents like this there will be lots of empathy for the crew and quite a bit less for the injured or deceased. If there is a fire dept board someplace, I'd expect perhaps that some may post there about the firemen and firewomen that have to go to accident scenes and how they are traumatized.

I don't know how many folks here have kids or not but in my 5 years of limited presence here I have noticed that at times there is a bit of negative reaction found for things that involve children and trains. Most don't seem to be anti children but there seem to be comments in threads like this one that do seem that way.

Dan

 

[SarahZ]

I'm not anti-children. I'm anti-stupid. A 15-year old knows better. That's why they call it "chicken". You wouldn't call it "chicken" if it weren't dangerous. You'd call it "fluffy bunny fun time".

Brain development and judgment aside, playing "chicken" with a car or train has been one of the renowned, idiotic teenager stunts since my dad was a kid. When he was in high school, kids used to drive cars toward each other to play "chicken". This isn't the first time a tragedy like this has happened because of that stupid game.

As a result of his decision to play "chicken", his family, friends, and the crew are suffering. So, yeah, I have more sympathy for those people than I do for him. It doesn't mean I'm not sorry he died, and it doesn't mean I'm anti-children. It simply means that his actions are causing pain for many people, and I'm not going to go, "Aww shucky darn, he was just a kid."

We aren't talking about a four-year old who wandered onto the tracks. We're talking about a 15-year old who made the conscious decision to try to beat the train, something he knew was dangerous.

 

[Ryan]

A-freaking-men.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go off and play a round of fluffy bunny fun time.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

A-freaking-men.Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go off and play a round of fluffy bunny fun time.

With your baby daughter?

 

[George Harris]

And yet, traffic fatalities are on a continuing decline. Something's making us safer.

This is true everywhere, regardless. It is used to justify the benefit of "safer" vehicles, "safer" roads, etc., etc. Not to say these things don't help, but some of it is simply increased familiarity of the public in general with the whole concept of how things are when there are motorized vehicles about.

If you look at a graph of traffic accident rates for the US there is a fairly steady decline with only three significant blips. A dip in the early 1930's because reduced driving in the depression reduce potential conflicts. A bump during WW2 because even though traffic declined from that in the late 1930's because car maintenance was bad. Remember, things like tires were rationed just for one example. Also, a lot of the drivers were tired to plain out exhausted because they were working long hours or were soldiers home on leave trying to make fast trips between family parts. Finally their was the dip in the 1970's phony gas crisis. Credit was given to the 55 mph speed limit, but actually belonged to reduced miles driven. This was also, as said below, because a significant portion of the limited access interstate system was getting in service.

That said, roads truly do make a huge difference. Divided or even four lane roads have much lower accident rates than two lanes because there is no head on to head on potential due to passing moves. Then these roads have higher rates than limited access roads because crossing moves are eliminated.