prayers for the woman's family and friends the "wham-bam-tram" strikes again. I am paranoid every time I cross it.
me too man. especially the "go ahead and trust us and sit on the tracks waiting to make a left hand turn" lights in the med center.
Why? You shouldn't be on the tracks for it to get you, and you should be wary of where it is would you ever need to cross them. What's with being a bit careful of this mode of transportation? That's like being paranoid of volcanoes and not living near one.
I feel you. Paranoia sets in the second I close my door and lock it. I turn around and there are people and random noises.
Because even the most law abiding folks have a lapse of attention, especially around something that isn't common in Houston (rail). If you're on the phone or listening to music, it's even more frightening. Trust me I'm looking out for that train a couple blocks in advance...
If I remember correctly, you live in Minneapolis. So I can definitely confirm this. I see it probably 3 or 4 times a day. The worst is when a biker is just going in the middle of the road with headphones, acting totally oblivious to the fact that large cars are impatient and trying to pass him (and nearly hitting him or her everytime)
Yep, I've seen it almost happen with cabbies here in Chicago in the Lincoln Park neighborhood also almost striking bikers because they have earbuds on.
That would be the fault of the driver and not the train. You have far far more to fear from other cars than from a light rail train.
well no schit it would be the fault of the driver. What an obvious comment. Thanks. It still doesn't change the fact that a driver, pedestrian or biker could have a lapse of attention and get clobbered by the wham-bam-tram.
Maybe biking and jogging with ear buds or head phones on is a bigger thing in Minnesota than other places. When I ride or jog I never wear anything in my ears and if I get a call I will pull over to the side to take it.
The other strange thing I noticed when I moved to Minnesota is that apparently there is no law against biking drunk. For a city that has so many people that bike around, that to me is insane. And I've seen plenty of bikers on a Friday night who I'm fairly certain or intoxicated. They're just asking to get hit at that point.
Didn't the story say that the person was driving her bike down the tracks itself? They had people wondering why she wasn't using the sidewalks on either side of the street. This wasn't a case of somebody simply not paying attention... this is like somebody going the wrong way on a freeway and expecting it to be okay.
There is this intersection (Wheeler and Main) that has to be the most dangerous section of the Metrorail line in Houston. I drive it often and I see this about 4 or 5 times a month, where cars turning left onto Main actually turn into the Metrorail tracks themselves. Some realize it immediately and others are still clueless until they see the train coming. Sometimes, people just really aren't paying attention.
My theory is she was on main street feeder and after she crossed Walker, the feeder road ends there so instead of continue riding on the pedestrian lane, she decided to take the train track without knowing the train was behind and, boom goes the dynamite.
