Married couple killed as Amtrak train hits SUV in N.C. 1/14/18

[Devil's Advocate]

How does a responsible person stall a car on the tracks? If they were driving over the tracks with a clear path and stalled while crossing simple inertia would probably pull them off again. The likelihood that a car engine would fail at the precise moment that a car had just inertia to end up right on the tracks is likely to be minuscule. It seems far more likely that a clumsy and indifferent driver was sitting on the tracks in a poorly maintained vehicle with a history of stalling while waiting for traffic to clear or a light to turn green, in which case any resulting collision with a train is entirely on them.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Anyone who drives where there are rail crossings with heavy traffic,whether Commuter,Freight or Passenger Rail,sees morons stop on the tracks, or run in front of on coming trains on a regular basis!

I've been riding the rails for over 70 years and have been on at least 25 trains that have been involved in collisions with vehicles and/or trespassers that resulted in deaths ( and/or derailments).

Darwin awards go out to lots of so called drivers!

Cue the Mad Hater singing: "..I'm Late,I'm Late, for a very important Date-- No time to stop and say hello,I'm Late, I'm Late,I'm Late!.."

 

[SarahZ]

The Amtrak train only hit the SUV because the SUV got in the way of the Amtrak train! It did not go down the street looking for an SUV to hit!

This is my beef as well when it's reported that Amtrak train "hits" a car, truck or pedestrian.

Why? It’s not incorrect. It’s **proper grammar**. Plus, headlines are supposed to be concise.

If a car runs a red light, it’s hit by the car with the green light. No one assumes the green light car is at fault because it hit the car that ran the red.

Also, the articles DO say the vehicle was at fault for ignoring the signals. Did you even read them?

I don’t understand why foamers are so touchy about this.

 

[KmH]

IMO, the title of the Article is not concise. I would say it is intentionally misleading.

Married couple killed as Amtrak train hits SUV in N.C., authorities say

Isn't this more concise than the title used by CBS News?

Married couple killed as SUV hits Amtrak Train in N. C., authorities say.

 

[Ryan]

No, CBS correctly states that the train hit the SUV.



If the SUV ran into the side of the train, you might have a point, but that isn't what happened here.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

How does a responsible person stall a car on the tracks? If they were driving over the tracks with a clear path and stalled while crossing simple inertia would probably pull them off again. The likelihood that a car engine would fail at the precise moment that a car had just inertia to end up right on the tracks is likely to be minuscule. It seems far more likely that a clumsy and indifferent driver was sitting on the tracks in a poorly maintained vehicle with a history of stalling while waiting for traffic to clear or a light to turn green, in which case any resulting collision with a train is entirely on them.

I guess you don't drive a stick shift. An idiot who is stupid enough to stop their stick-shift car on the railroad tracks is probably stupid enough to not account for the additional inertia of the track ridges and inclines associated with grade crossings, and may indeed stall their car by not applying enough throttle to cover that additional inertia. I mean, anyone who stops their car on a railroad track in the first place is not a mental giant.

How you stall an automatic in the same circumstances, however, is a much bigger mystery.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

How does a responsible person stall a car on the tracks? If they were driving over the tracks with a clear path and stalled while crossing simple inertia would probably pull them off again. The likelihood that a car engine would fail at the precise moment that a car had just inertia to end up right on the tracks is likely to be minuscule. It seems far more likely that a clumsy and indifferent driver was sitting on the tracks in a poorly maintained vehicle with a history of stalling while waiting for traffic to clear or a light to turn green, in which case any resulting collision with a train is entirely on them.

I guess you don't drive a stick shift. An idiot who is stupid enough to stop their stick-shift car on the railroad tracks is probably stupid enough to not account for the additional inertia of the track ridges and inclines associated with grade crossings, and may indeed stall their car by not applying enough throttle to cover that additional inertia. I mean, anyone who stops their car on a railroad track in the first place is not a mental giant. How you stall an automatic in the same circumstances, however, is a much bigger mystery.

Even if you stalled a manual transmission on a grade crossing (inclined or otherwise) you'd simply restart the engine and adjust your clutch and throttle manipulation. So long as the car was well maintained you'd be fine. I'm not sure why Americans struggle with driving stick but at this point 90% of cars sold in the US are automatic so I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. I considered buying a manual transmission for my current vehicle but the automatic version had better mileage and came with more options. There's not a lot of spirited driving opportunities where I live. Most of my trips are either tedious daily commutes or long hauls across hundreds of empty miles. The nearest winding twisty road with a nice view and decent speed limit takes a couple hours of dull driving to reach.

 

[niemi24s]

Many get their panties all in a wad over the wording of headlines, forgetting that headlines are probably written to capture the viewers attention - without being grossly untrue. While "Train And SUV Collide" is a totally innocuous headline, it doesn't have the grabbing power of ". . .Train Hits SUV. . ." or ". . .Train Rams Into Their Car. . .". "Man Bites Dog" is a classic example of an attention-getting headline. "Dog Bites Man" is a real yawner.

Just my 2¢ worth. Carry on.

 

[dlagrua]

The Amtrak train only hit the SUV because the SUV got in the way of the Amtrak train! It did not go down the street looking for an SUV to hit!

This is my beef as well when it's reported that Amtrak train "hits" a car, truck or pedestrian.

Why? It’s not incorrect. It’s **proper grammar**. Plus, headlines are supposed to be concise.

If a car runs a red light, it’s hit by the car with the green light. No one assumes the green light car is at fault because it hit the car that ran the red.

Also, the articles DO say the vehicle was at fault for ignoring the signals. Did you even read them?

I don’t understand why foamers are so touchy about this.

Agree with some of your points but headlines about grade crossing accidents, (even using proper grammar) can be misleading. They portray Amtrak in a negative light that could sway public opinion about passenger rail. When we were discussing our rail trips, a distant family relative of mine once said "those trains are really killing motorists". If we are to win over the general public, Amtrak needs positive headlines in the news.

 

[Ryan]

There isn’t anything misleading about it to anyone with a basic understanding of grammar.

The solution isn’t a different headline, it’s increasing literacy to something approaching “barely functional”.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Here’s Why Semi Literate Readers Only Look At Lists Of Ten Bad Headlines! Its Not What You Think!

Is it really just the readers literacy that has declining quality, Ryan?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Honestly I think the language used is fine as written. People who try to decipher legal culpability out of basic descriptions of physical events are wasting their time. The English language does not assign moral or legal responsibility in that manner. Which is why the move toward contextless soundbites in the 1980's and twitter tirades in the 2010's is so harmful to our culture. The death of context and the growth of identity based echo chambers has become a cancer upon our society.

 

[Bierboy]

Average reading level in the US is 7th grade...

 

[chakk]

Have first-responders or police made any conjectures whether this might have been another example of “suicide-by-train”? This happens several times each year — typically with pedestrians — on commuter rail lines in the SF Bay Area.

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