Yesterday night I was listening to 610 KILT, and I heard a public address announcement warning against the dangers of either parking your car on the railroad tracks, walking alongside railroad tracks, or actually sleeping on the tracks. The actual P.A. announcement basically consisted of a very serious conversation between a husband and his wife, where he explains to her that he barely missed getting hit by a train, while he was either parked on the tracks or maybe even sleeping on the tracks (I am not 100% sure). I am paraphrasing here but I think he said, "Yeah, I just didn't think a train would come. It's a good thing I stepped off the tracks in time." I nearly drove my car off the road as I was listening to this! First of all, I want to know how frequently husbands are explaining to their wives that they were on the railroad tracks and almost got hit by a train. I mean, are these conversations happening pretty often here? Like on a daily basis? Secondly, who falls asleep on the railroad tracks? Maybe I misinterpreted what I heard on the PA announcement, but I think I heard something about sleeping. And, if I misheard the part about sleeping, even still, who parks their car on the railroad tracks?? Also, if one were stupid enough to leave a parked car on the railroad tracks, if the train honks at you, you still have at least 30-45 seconds to get off the tracks. People who get by trains (who are not little kids or handicapped) are perfect examples of Darwinism. These PA announcements are an insult to my intelligence and a possible waste of tax dollars. ** Again, it is possible I misheard this PA announcement because I usually ignore such things, so if someone else heard the same announcement, feel free to correct me here.
They said when Janie was arrested They found him underneath a train... I can't remember the exact number, but something like 4 of every 10 train/vehicle accidents involve the vehicle hitting the side of the train...
Normally I would laugh at this warning as nonsense *except* this past weekend a friend of mine told me the brilliant story of how he fell asleep under railroad track in a small gully beneath the track. He woke up to the roar of a freight train passing over him for about 10 minutes. Alcohol was involved. Idiot.
I remember in defensive driving they showed us a tape on "How to get along with trains". I dont remember the # they said but the # of deaths per year caused by a train is much higher than what I ever imagined it would be. Its acutally a pretty serious problem, people just dont think sometimes
Was this announcement provided by a train operator or a non-profit? Sometimes non-profits have nothing better to do than to buy advertising space to highlight obvious dangers of everyday activity. The train operator has no duty to warn people not to park (or sleep) on the tracks, so you can't go after the train operator notwithstanding the announcement. If that were the case, car manufacturers should warn people not to stand in the middle of the freeway.
Lots of illegal immigrants in South Texas sleep between the railroad tracks to stay away from snakes. Not a very bright idea.
Didn't 20/20 do a story a few years back where they put a camera man on a train for a day or two to see all the people trying to "beat the train" over crossings, even with the arms down or lights flashing? On just one day of train riding they filmed like 50 or 60 people going through the crossings with lights flashing and arms down.
You are obviosly train biased, but it was actually a chair they found him under. You see he was a scared little biotch whenever they came to arrest him even though he had seemed so tough all those years.
That's just ignorant. Anyone who would rather take a chance of dying than sitting for a few minutes to wait for a train to pass, is either mentally ill, or really really stupid. And who in their right mind would name their son Janie?
In May of 1993, I was riding the train from Galveston back to Houston when the train hit a car trying to beat us across. Killed someone. We were there a couple of hours. I think it was at or near Webster.
i've actually heard that twice, the second just two nights ago at like 5 am. both times i thought it was some joke commercial at first (i had forgotten what it was about by the time i heard it again) and then they mention he barely missed getting hit and a serious message comes on and i'm like wtf. the daughter is worried b/c he's late and then he just comes in. i usually have the volume low so i didn't hear how he almost got hit. oh, and it really is a train they found him under according to the lyrics (i thought chair too). janie is the daughter. and she also put a bullet in his brain so i don't think it was so much being scared as it was being dead that made him hide.
You can be fined 25 hundo for crossing a barracade at the DART rail tracks in Plano, TX. "PSA's?.... We don't need no stinkin' PSA's" I don't know about you, but I think the fine keeps me from hangin' out on the tracks (as if the impending death doesn't already).
If I lost a loved one that way, it would be sad, but I'd still think that he or she was stupid for doing it.
