Teen hit by CSX train in Indianapolis

[FLWBStrainman]

Unfortunately, a teenager was walking on a railroad track and was struck by a CSX train on the east side of Indianapolis this evening. He is in the hospital right now with serious injuries.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/juvenile-struck-by-train-in-lawrence

It's a shame people don't have any more common sense

 

[Gandalf0444]

Feel sorry for the engineer and the family. No sympathy for the kid though. Seems kids these days only have a high enough IQ to keep there bodies warm and not much else.

 

[airtime]

Feel sorry for the engineer and the family. No sympathy for the kid though. Seems kids these days only have a high enough IQ to keep there bodies warm and not much else.

I have to agree with Gandalf0444, the engineer will be having traumatic nightmares now, and whether he will be able to drive trains again is another thing,

My friend used to drive trains in the UK, he too hit a child who was tresspassing and playing a game called chicken on the railway, he has never recovered and now only works as a ticket person on a small station, he has never been himself since.

My thoughts are with the engineer too.

Joe Airtime

 

[wilh]

Well, now the family of the teen will try and sue the railroad for some stupid reason, but no railroad personel is at fault here. It just boils down to the stupidity of some.

 

[mrreet]

When the kid gets out of the hospital he should be charged with trespassing and he parents should be fined for the railroads lost revenue.

 

[pommie]

Ok who here has not at some time trespassed on railroad property, I don't care if it was only a few feet to get that photo, it is still trespassing, and did anyone read the part that says the kid is "hard of hearing", the other kids that were there must of just cleared the tracks and never warned him, maybe they didn't know that he was "hard of hearing" and just shouted at him, only those kids and him know exactly what happened, so do not be so quick to judge.
I too feel sorry for the engineer and his family but being uncaring for the kid is not going to help them.

There was an 8 year old killed by a train near me awhile ago(Corio, Victoria, Australia, if you want to look up the story), every one was down on the parents of this boy because it was at 7:30pm, what was he doing out by himself, its the parents fault, they were ready to string them up, then the truth came out, this boy was severely Autistic and loved trains, when his parents discovered he was missing they informed the police at 6:30, an hour before he was hit, but the biggest thing I cannot understand was he had to cross a busy four lane highway, it turns out that 14 drivers reported to police that they had seen him, one having to swerve to avoid him, trouble is not only didn't they stop they didn't report it to the police until the next day, I mean wouldn't you stop or at least report a young child on a highway like that as soon as you could, especially when there are no houses, only empty paddocks, on the side he was heading, me I would of stopped and made sure he was safe then reported him to the police, then again I would of just taken him home as he was known to me, attending the same special needs school and traveling on the same bus as my daughter.

I do not blame the parents, kids escape every now and then, but I do blame those drivers that couldn't spare a couple of minutes to stop at the sight of a little boy crossing a busy highway and, at the least, make a call to the police, it would of save his life.

Please wait until all the facts are clear before passing any judgment on anyone.

Cheers David

 

[FLWBStrainman]

From what I understood, they were crossing the track, not walking down it, per se. But that's still the wrong place at the wrong time. And yes, a suppose a majority of people have trespassed at one time or another, but I can bet you that railfans getting photos know darn good and well how not to get hit by the train they are watching. But an 80-car autorack train makes a lot of noise. Nobody thinks it can happen to them. A lot of people think trains never run anymore. And teens ARE invincible, anyway. At least that's the state of mind.

 

[Beattie]

Unfortunately, a teenager was walking on a railroad track and was struck by a CSX train on the east side of Indianapolis this evening. He is in the hospital right now with serious injuries.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/juvenile-struck-by-train-in-lawrence

It's a shame people don't have any more common sense

amen on common sense nobody know what that is now a days. Anyways so was he just walking on the tracks on the way home or was he playing a game on the railroad tracks?

By the way how do you now hear a train barreling down the track, I mean you know how loud trains are unless he was deaf.

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

Stay off the railway, full sympathies for the train crew and families.

IKB.

 

[Forest_Runner]

I have never been able to figure out, things like people getting hit by trains or level crossing accidents (Pommie's autistic child example excluded).

I mean, how do the hell does one not see it for a start?? Then hearing and/or even feeling its approach.

I've just never been able to fathom how it's possible, and it's unlikely I ever will.

 

[pommie]

snip
I mean you know how loud trains are unless he was deaf.

snip
and did anyone read the part that says the kid is "hard of hearing",
snip

Cheers David

 

[sawyer811]

my sympathies to the familes of both parties, both the kid's and the engineer's. I don't understand how someone could just go galivanting along the tracks, but then again, not everyone is as train-savvy as we are, so i kind of see it. Still, the fact remains, this is just a stupid thing to do. I mean, I'll admit it, I've walked along the main line every now and then, gone up close to photograph an interesting piece of equipment/engine/steam special/etc., but, knowing something about trains tells me STAY OFF THE TRACKS! now, most people don't even think trains even run, and if they do, they don't understand that a 100-car coal train takes a mile to stop. I've talked to people who have flatly said that a train should and is able to stop on a dime, like an automobile. Maybe this kid thought that if the train came, it would be able to stop if it saw him. if an engineer can see something on the tracks, he can't stop for it. simple as that.

This accident boils down to lack of knowledge in the general public, not the fault of one teen walking on the rails. I pray that the engineer is able to overcome the damage this may have caused him, and for the family of the teen. no lawsuit should come of this, but i hope that if it does, common sense (and some railway knowledge) will come through and show the real cause, that it's no ones fault.

 

[Vern]

Sounds to me like a good case for enclosing the line with 6ft palisade fencing.

 

[paulzmay]

Sounds to me like a good case for enclosing the line with 6ft palisade fencing.

I seem to remember reading that the UK is the only country in the world with entirely fenced railways. It certainly makes it harder for anyone to accidentally trespass, or for kids to wander.

Oh, and Pommie, I don't think I've ever trespassed on the railway - probably mostly because I grew up in the UK where it's all fenced off...

Paul

 

[jnjkerbin]

I feel that there needs to be more education in this matter. There's always "look left, look right then cross the road" but no "some trains take 2, 3 or even more miles to stop" or "A train won't be able to stop in time"
Schools need to teach kids about more things than just maths, english, history and science.
Joe

 

[K4driver]

Prayers to the engineer,the engineer's friends,family. My prayers also go out to the family of the teen hit. If he was walking with his friends, no sympathy to the friends for leaving, and not grabbing him. Watch the family try and sue CSX for this. Kids these days (Some excluded) have no idea about trains anymore. They think they are useless hunks of metal that can stop on a dime, and that train tracks are meant to be used as walking paths (Those who actually go out anymore) and the ones who do go out, have iPods,Cell phones,etc in their ears.

 

[JCitron]

I too extend my greater sympathy to the engineer and crew. They'll have to deal with is a lot longer than the teen and his family. The courts will drag this out for years before everything gets settled.

As for the teen no hearing the train. He may have been hearing impaired, but that doesn't mean he also didn't have to watch where he was walking. I've had so many kids and young adults just walk in front of my car and expect me to stop instantly. They don't bother to look first and wait for the cars to stop; they just cross in front of the traffic. I suspect they do the same with trains as well, expecting the engineer to be able to stop a train full of auto-carriers to stop instantly!

A number of years ago, a young lady around the same age as this kid was killed while walking on the MBTA tracks in North Andover. She had no way of hearing a train was coming. She had her ears plugged with headphones as she walked the tracks, and never heard the commuter train coming along. The engineer stated he was blowing his horn not just for the crossing, but also at her, and had applied the E-brake. She did not move - totally unaware of her surroundings.

I have to say that I blame a lot of this on society. Instead of teaching people to take note of their surroundings, they instead leave the kids to do as they want. When I was growing up, I was taught the former. Look around and be aware of where you are at all times. We even had safety classes in grammar school where police and firemen came in and discussed how to walk across a street, what to do when there's a fire, etc.

I hate to say it, this is one of those situations where the parents will blame everyone else except for themselves, and expect the government to step in and do everything for them. It's time they took responsibility for their own actions and those of their children.

John

 

[rjhowie]

Well if as one has said here although a sad incident I have to admit a tightness in sympathy for the youngster. Deliberately crossing a line is crassly stupid and obvioulsy dangerous and there is no excuse. Mostly here in GB tracks are fenced so someone has to climb to do this stupidity. I can also recall a teenager climbing up rail infrastucture near the overhead cable and got burned to death.

 

[brandonleo]

It's a shame people don't have any more common sense

I saw several teens SITTING on the rails on the NS Pittsburgh line. They sat there for about 20 sec. The tracks are in the middle of a bend. Then I hear several horn blasts and the teens get up walk off the tracks. Not even a second later, a 55 mph full speed Norfolk Southern frieght train goes by and they forced the train into emergency. I don't know why people do this. I also see people go out of their way to cross the tracks. They walk OVER the underpass.

 

[K4driver]

People (Teenagers) do not respect the railroads anymore (then again, they do not respect anything anymore). It would be nice if they were taught to stay off the tracks/bridges/rail yards. Yet Parents will not teach them, nor will the schools do anything like that. Seriously, If you want to get near trains, learn WHAT THEY WILL DO TO YOU IF YOU GET IN THEIR WAY!