15-year-old dies crossing Old Colony line
Jonathan Bare
Teen-ager on bicycle killed by commuter rail train
Associated Press, 06/24/98 20:00
ABINGTON, Mass. (AP) - A teen-age girl was struck and killed on Wednesday
when she tried to ride her bicycle across the railroad tracks at the Pine
Street rail crossing on the Old Colony Line, authorities said.
Fifteen-year-old Kelly Boyd of Abington was struck about 1:50 p.m. by the
1:20 p.m. commuter rail train traveling northbound toward Boston,
authorities said.
Boyd apparently attempted to cross the tracks after a southbound train had
passed by, unaware that the other train was speeding toward her.
Service in both directions was temporarily suspended by the accident, said
Erin Harrington, a spokeswoman for the MBTA Harrington said.
"They said the gates were down, she went around it," said Brian Pedro, an
MBTA spokesman. "Unfortunatley, the guy had no chance to stop. It takes a
mile or so to stop.'"
Pedro said the train was traveling about 50 to 60 mph.
-- 30 --
In addition, 7 News had a quite a long report on this accident. The
reporter reaffirmed that the girl went around the gates and they also had
the number of the MBTA engine involved.
jonathan l. bare
--
jlb...@bu.edu <]|[> jlb...@411net.com
http://www.411net.com/jlbare
Ron Newman
In article <6mtogs$n...@ics.com>, d...@jackal.ics.com says...
>
>|> >Teen-ager on bicycle killed by commuter rail train
>
>fault, the train that hit her is described as "barreling down" the tracks,
>a choice of words that makes the teen-ager more of a victim.
The Herald featured this accident as its primary front-page story today.
Read the article on the Herald web site at:
http://www.bostonherald.com/bostonherald/lonw/25girl1.htm
The article says that she was a 15-year-old honor roll student, and that
she rode her bicycle around the crossing gate when it remained down after the
southbound train had passed--only to get hit by the northbound train. This
is a classic way for people to get killed at grade crossings.
Sadly, this is another case of someone being very bright and yet stupid at
the same time....
Harry H Conover
David B. Lewis (d...@jackal.ics.com) wrote:
: |> >Teen-ager on bicycle killed by commuter rail train
:
: The Globe's brief coverage is interesting. Despite the teen-agers clear
: fault, the train that hit her is described as "barreling down" the tracks,
: a choice of words that makes the teen-ager more of a victim.
That's what trains are supposed to do.
As sad as this incident is, the victim was totally the cause of her
own demise, either as a result of ignorance or careless behavior.
However, some blame is to be placed on a lack of meaninful rail safety
education by the school system. On the transit systems, even the lowest
level manual laborer is taught to beware of the second train, since this
is generally the common cause of fatalities among rail workers. I have yet
to learn of any public school safety education program even addressing this
fundamental precaution.
Harry C.
ERIKG3
> I have yet
>to learn of any public school safety education program even >addressing this
>fundamental precaution.
Of course they do offer lots of free driving lessons, which in turn encourages
kids to buy cars and helps to grow the congestion problem.
-Erik
Matthew Strumpf
Harry H Conover wrote:
> However, some blame is to be placed on a lack of meaninful rail safety
> education by the school system. On the transit systems, even the
> lowest level manual laborer is taught to beware of the second train,
> since this is generally the common cause of fatalities among rail
> program even addressing this fundamental precaution.
Actually I have seen this directly addressed in the Operation Lifesaver
videos that they use in schools. If this child did not have an
opportunity to see such a video it can only be blamed on the school. The
MBTA was and still is very available to do school programs.
The simple facts are that you do not cross a gate that is down.
--
Matthew Strumpf ty...@shore.net
-------------------------------------- http://www.shore.net/~typo
10 Coweeset Dr | SC Phase Productions
Brockton, MA 02401-4502 | Video, Audio, Lighting, and Computers
nigh...@worldnet.att.net
Its a tragic.. bottom line is though she ran the gates. That's it. It
happens down here in the Carolina's all the time. Same thing, they run
the gates. For a few minutes they spend eternity waiting.
Harry H Conover
David S Chesler (che...@world.std.com) wrote:
:
: The report suggested she
: may have assumed the noise and whistle were from the first train.
This is an interesting point. With two trains approaching a grade
crossing from opposite directions, there must have been a great deal
of whistle activity. (Do the same whistle rules apply to gate protected
grade crossings as unprotected grade crossings? I believe they do,
but aren't certain.) As I recall the rules, a train in approach to
a grade crossing is required to provide four short blasts of the
horn as the crossing is apprached, then a continuous blast of the
horn while the motor is actually traversing the crossing. From my
perspective, the distinctive simultaneous signaling of two trains
approaching the crossing should have attracted notice. (Ask anyone
that lives near a grade crossing about this.)
Sadly, there are some communities where the residents have
mounted sufficient local action to legally prevent trains from
sounding horns within their communities (A rather short-sighted,
self-interest action it seems to me, but it is done.) Was this
one of those communities? If so, it is quite possible that
the price of community quiet and tranquility may have been a
child's life. I would think rather poorly of the community of
Abington is this was the case.
: Unlike for instance electricians, who are fairly casual
: about dealing with live 120v and 240v lines, train workers
: take trains very seriously. For instance south of Mishawum
: the other day some maintainers were doing something with
: ties and clips. It seemed one track was closed down, so
: the other track was running both ways. The train operator
: ran his whistle the whole time, and the workers had
: other workers with flags surrounding them perhaps
: a quarter mile in either direction. I suppose we
: should learn from them.
Indeed. A long history of death and serious injury on the rails
led to the extreme precautions that are now observed. Realize that
it often takes 1-3 miles to stop a fast train, and when the train
operator first sees a hazard there is little means of avoidance.
My sympathy also extends to the operator of the train that struck the
girl. The operator was clearly not at fault in any way, yet he/she
will retain the mental image of those few seconds for life.
Harry C.
Jonathan Bare
Harry H Conover (con...@tiac.net) wrote:
: Sadly, there are some communities where the residents have
: mounted sufficient local action to legally prevent trains from
: sounding horns within their communities (A rather short-sighted,
: self-interest action it seems to me, but it is done.) Was this
: one of those communities?
7 News and other reports show other trains at the same crossing (after the
acccident) sounding their horns as they traverse the crossing.
: My sympathy also extends to the operator of the train that struck the
: girl. The operator was clearly not at fault in any way, yet he/she
: will retain the mental image of those few seconds for life.
I guess it's a job hazard...but it's no different than being in or
witnessing an automobile accident where you had absolutely no control over
the events that transpired.
Harry H Conover
Jonathan Bare (jlb...@bu.edu) wrote:
:
: I guess it's a job hazard...but it's no different than being in or
: witnessing an automobile accident where you had absolutely no control over
: the events that transpired.
Precisely. Still, such events wll forever stain your memory.
I was riding the cab of the Frisco's QLA when it stuck a car. From
the cab, you could see it coming, but other than to blow the horn,
there was nothing you could do about it (QLA is an 70-mph 100+ consist
freight carrying produce from LA to St. Louis).
The engineer hit the brakes and the horn at the same time...I believe
his words were something like "oh shit!" I looked up just in time
to see a compact car and a woman's face in the driver-side window
before the train struck them. On the train, the collison was barely
a bump, but we learned that a mother and two children were killed
in that collison. We came to a halt about 2-miles beyond the grade
crossing that was the accident scene (freight trains have less
braking ability than passenger trains).
I wasn't driving the train, but I'll never forget that incident.
Simply a "Job Hazard"...I guess. Still, these guys don't really
get paid for "Job Hazards" like these...Train operators are simply
average type skilled guys, but with human emotions!
Sad, but the average Yuppie can't identify with any of this, and
truly hasn't a clue. Worse still, their vote counts and they are
today legion!
Harry C.
David J. P. Long - Change '_' in email to '.'
eri...@aol.com (ERIKG3) wrote:
>> I have yet
>>to learn of any public school safety education program even >addressing this
>>fundamental precaution.
>
>Of course they do offer lots of free driving lessons, which in turn encourages
>kids to buy cars and helps to grow the congestion problem.
Where? In 1978 it cost me $55 to have driver's ed at my high school,
$110 if I were to do it at a 'private' school.
+----/|-------------------------------------+-------------------+
| | | djl...@magic.mv.com \ Last update : |
| / | djl...@msn.com \ Rants - 6/15/98|
| ( ) http://www.mv.com/ipusers/magic \ ICQ# 8976662 |
+--`--' ----------------------------------------+---------------+
Harry H Conover
David J. P. Long - Change '_' in email to '.' (djlong@magic_mv.com) wrote:
: eri...@aol.com (ERIKG3) wrote:
:
: >> I have yet
: >>to learn of any public school safety education program even >addressing this
: >>fundamental precaution.
: >
: >Of course they do offer lots of free driving lessons, which in turn encourages
: >kids to buy cars and helps to grow the congestion problem.
:
: Where? In 1978 it cost me $55 to have driver's ed at my high school,
: $110 if I were to do it at a 'private' school.
Still, money well spent.
Harry C.
David B. Lewis
|> However, some blame is to be placed on a lack of meaninful rail safety
|> education by the school system. On the transit systems, even the lowest
I can't really see that rail safety needs to be added to the list of topics
to be covered by schools.
Gary Meyers
That train engineer was suspended for 15 because he was going 77mph in
70mph zone.... That made all the difference in the world...
On 25 Jun 1998 04:48:19 GMT, jlb...@bu.edu (Jonathan Bare) wrote:
>
>Teen-ager on bicycle killed by commuter rail train
>
RTSPCC
>From: gme...@mediaone.net (Gary Meyers)
>That train engineer was suspended for 15 because he was going 77mph in
>70mph zone.... That made all the difference in the world...
>
According to the Patriot Ledger:
"Amtrak officials don't believe the excessive speed contributed to Boyd's
death. But the rules violation immediately led them to seek the 15-day
suspension, which is expected to be formally approved today."
......
"Amtrak and T officials said a data recorder inside the train's engine showed
that it was traveling above the speed limit. MBTA officials said (the engineer)
may have sped up to reach the crossing at the same time as a train that was
traveling in the opposite direction. Having both trains in the crossing at once
is considered safer than having one go through followed moments later by the
second going in the opposite direction.
As he approached the Pine Street crossing, (the engineer) reduced his speed
below the speed limit. He hit the emergency brake in an attempt to avoid
hitting Boyd, but a train at that speed needs about two-thirds of a mile to
stop."
Harry H Conover
: >
: >Teen-ager on bicycle killed by commuter rail train
: >
: >Associated Press, 06/24/98 20:00
: >
: >ABINGTON, Mass. (AP) - A teen-age girl was struck and killed on Wednesday
: >when she tried to ride her bicycle across the railroad tracks at the Pine
: >Street rail crossing on the Old Colony Line, authorities said.
: This morning at abuot 4:40am an as-yet-unidentified man was
: killled by a train carrying MBTA workers on tracks under the
: Salem Street bridge, between Winchester and Mishawum in
: Woburn, on the Lowell Line.
Sounds like the reproductive gene pool is improving weekly!
Excluding extraordinary circumstances, you have to work at it to
get killed by a passing train.
Harry C.
Chris Law
Harry H Conover wrote:
> David S Chesler (che...@world.std.com) wrote:
> :
> : The report suggested she
> : may have assumed the noise and whistle were from the first train.
>
> This is an interesting point. With two trains approaching a grade
> crossing from opposite directions, there must have been a great deal
> of whistle activity. (Do the same whistle rules apply to gate protected
> grade crossings as unprotected grade crossings? I believe they do,
> but aren't certain.) As I recall the rules, a train in approach to
> a grade crossing is required to provide four short blasts of the
> horn as the crossing is apprached, then a continuous blast of the
> horn while the motor is actually traversing the crossing. From my
> perspective, the distinctive simultaneous signaling of two trains
> approaching the crossing should have attracted notice. (Ask anyone
> that lives near a grade crossing about this.)
>
> Sadly, there are some communities where the residents have
> mounted sufficient local action to legally prevent trains from
> sounding horns within their communities (A rather short-sighted,
> self-interest action it seems to me, but it is done.) Was this
> one of those communities? If so, it is quite possible that
> the price of community quiet and tranquility may have been a
> child's life. I would think rather poorly of the community of
> Abington is this was the case.
Gee, why don't we require ALL motor vehicles that are passing through ANY
intersection on a green light to honk their horns? This too could save a
*lot* of lives!
Train whistles should be reserved for special, unusual, or temporary
situations, like construction workers on the track or the actual sighting
of an errant person or vehicle on the tracks. Unless the train is in a
train yard or other area where the noise wouldn't be a factor, they should
NOT be used routinely - they are too loud and disruptive. The signals and
gates that are present at most grade crossings *should* be more than
enough, and fencing (checked regularly) can take care of the stretches
in-between.
Education and patience* (on the part of people stopped at signals/gates) is
what is needed to prevent these accidents - requiring the routine sounding
of horns is a poor solution!
*On a side note - I was astounded ten years ago when I went to Italy and
saw just how long a crossing gate can be down before one sees any sign of a
train. To accommodate the high speed trains, the gate sensors are placed
far away from the crossings, thus when a slow train comes along the gates
can remain down for minutes on end before a train goes by. We waited at
one crossing for over fifteen minutes, because two slow trains were passing
somewhere nearby. Of course, over there they have very heavy
full-roadway-width gates that I don't think a truck could ram through too
easily, but even when there were bicyclists waiting they would patiently
wait (and not even duck under to look).
-Chris Law
Wayne Mesard
Chris Law <wco...@erols.com> writes:
> Education and patience* (on the part of people stopped at signals/gates) is
> what is needed to prevent these accidents - requiring the routine sounding
> of horns is a poor solution!
Agreed, but additional signaling could help. Adding an indicator to the
crossing gate--say, a pair of yellow arrows--to indicate from which way
the train is approaching may have helped here. If both arrows are lit,
you have a visual indication that two trains are approaching.
I'm speaking from ignorance, but the way I imagine these things are
wired, these indicators could be retrofitted with only minor changes to
the crossing gate itself (i.e., no need to install new sensors or run
new cables).
If the "second train" is a common cause of fatalities as one poster
implied, this could possibly be a significant, low-cost safety
enhancement.
Whaddayathink?
Wayne();
Robert P. Krajewski
>Gee, why don't we require ALL motor vehicles that are passing through ANY
>intersection on a green light to honk their horns? This too could save a
>*lot* of lives!
Or we could just force motorists to pay attention at intersections. From
my experience, that would be a big deal, too !
Harry H Conover
Daniel Salomon (dsal...@fas.harvard.edu) wrote:
: Harry H Conover (con...@tiac.net) wrote:
: : This is a problem that's difficult to correct. Crossing gates are
: : designed as a "fail-safe" vital safety mechanism. By design intention,
: : any failure in the gate associated track cricuits or any other part
: : of their controls "should" close the gates. Most are even weighted
: : to assure that they fail closed on loss of operating power.
:
: Then there's the gate on the LIRR that has been known to lower, and then
: raise up just a few seconds BEFORE the train comes through.
It's not supposed to do that. ;->
(Even fail-safe design depends on the train shunting some type of
track circuit, which with rusty rails and poorly maintined equipment,
doesn't alway reliably happen.)
: I think that
: is reason enough to have whistles or horns at all crossings.
I agree. There is a reason why train horn rules have been around
for over a century. Communities that attempt to over-ride and
restrict the observance of these rules act foolishly. (If train
horns annoy you -- you simply don't purchase a home near the
tracks.)
Harry C.
Chris Law
Harry H Conover wrote:
> Chris Law (wco...@erols.com) wrote:
> ::
> : Gee, why don't we require ALL motor vehicles that are passing through ANY
> : intersection on a green light to honk their horns? This too could save a
> : *lot* of lives!
>
> Why not? Simply because it's not needed. Unlike trains, a car can
> stop quickly and alter their direction of travel to avoid a collision.
> Trains cannot.
>
> In case you haven't noticed, it's the responsiblity of an automobile
> operator to operate his vehicle in such a way that they avoid collisions
> with people or things. By contast, since a train operator cannot quickly
> stop or avoid a collision, it is his responsibility to warn those in
> his dedicated right-of-way, to take defensive action. This is why
> trains blow horns and cars don't.
>
> Simple enough?
>
> Harry C.
It's called humor - did you read the rest of the post (the serious part)?
-Chris Law
John F. Carr
John Mara <JOHN...@prodigy.net> wrote:
>Motor vehicles are not allowed to excede 55 miles per hour on roads with
>at-grade intersections.
This is currently true in Massachusetts (by policy, not law) but varies
by state since the repeal of the national speed limit. Many western
states permit speeds above 55 on ordinary two lane roads. Two (Texas
and Montana) permit speeds above 65.
--
John Carr j...@tiac.net
Dave Bradley
>frustration to motorists and pedestrians alike, but I don't know
>of a sure cure to eliminate the problem. Improved maintenance
>and newer equipment is likely to minimize such events, but can't
>totally eliminate. Perhaps we should return to the old days when
>a person was stationed at the crossing full-time to operate the
>gates.
I agree that there is no easy solution, but when the signals go down
and stay down and motorists call for hours about the problem, one good
solution would be to get someone up there quickly to direct traffic
around the crossing when safe while they wait for a repair crew.
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