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Cho Cho Charlie

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Did anyone here catch the new episode of Family Guy that aired 5/8/16?

Peter makes a derogatory comment about Amtrak's poor safety record, and typical of the show, Peter then breaks the four wall and offers a legal defense of that comment by listing all the accidents Amtrak has had.

While just a cartoon, it is one of the most negative comments about Amtrak I have seen aired during prime-time.
 
Did anyone here catch the new episode of Family Guy that aired 5/8/16?

Peter makes a derogatory comment about Amtrak's poor safety record, and typical of the show, Peter then breaks the four wall and offers a legal defense of that comment by listing all the accidents Amtrak has had.

While just a cartoon, it is one of the most negative comments about Amtrak I have seen aired during prime-time.
90% of the people who watch family guy never even look up anything that's on the show, or it goes over their head. The fact they had to explain the joke shows it. Honestly, most of the viewers don't even know what Amtrak is.
 
Did anyone here catch the new episode of Family Guy that aired 5/8/16? Peter makes a derogatory comment about Amtrak's poor safety record, and typical of the show, Peter then breaks the four wall and offers a legal defense of that comment by listing all the accidents Amtrak has had. While just a cartoon, it is one of the most negative comments about Amtrak I have seen aired during prime-time.
90% of the people who watch family guy never even look up anything that's on the show, or it goes over their head.
Okay, so how does Amtrak safety compare to that of passenger rail operators in other industrialized democracies?
 
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Did anyone here catch the new episode of Family Guy that aired 5/8/16? Peter makes a derogatory comment about Amtrak's poor safety record, and typical of the show, Peter then breaks the four wall and offers a legal defense of that comment by listing all the accidents Amtrak has had. While just a cartoon, it is one of the most negative comments about Amtrak I have seen aired during prime-time.
90% of the people who watch family guy never even look up anything that's on the show, or it goes over their head.
Okay, so how does Amtrak safety compare to that of passenger rail operators in other industrialized democracies?
What does "Amtrak safety" have to do with "family guy" whatever that might be, I dunno. From the "family guy" screenwriters viewpoint - maybe a cheap ingnorant joke.

What's more dangerous than riding Amtrak?

Crossing the street. Being in a hospital. Visiting a doctor. Eating peanuts. Annoying your mother-in-law. Eating a salad or a underdone burger. Driving 20 miles. Eating in any restaurant. Eating what you cook yourself. Joining the Navy. Going for a walk. Having sex. Jogging. Eating "health supplements" Going outdoors in a thunderstorm. Staying indoors in a thunderstorm. Sheesh!

But yeah, DA, it would be interesting to compare actual Amtrak risk to other nations rail riding risk. From what I've read, in the last 30 years, Norway and India would be more dangerous, Japan and Netherlands less dangerous, but where the actual stats are I don't know or care.

Because the risk from riding trains anywhere is so much tinier than the risk from eating peanuts (not the allergy risk, the aflatoxin risk)

how to measure tiny relative risk, like trains in various places -- is difficult -- because the risk is so small.

The risk of "getting drunk" in various places is (how many times) more.
 
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I never talked about safety in my comment DA. All I was stating is that the joke that was made will not affect amtrak negatively for the most part.
 
I went back and slowed down the list on my TV. A large chunk of the accidents listed are vehicle vs train ones.

Can't really fault Amtrak for hitting a tractor trailer stuck on the tracks...

That said, they did list a couple of the bad ones like the Silver Spring, MD one and the Sunset Limited one in LA.
 
I never talked about safety in my comment DA. All I was stating is that the joke that was made will not affect amtrak negatively for the most part.
There's also truth in the old expression that "there is no such thing as bad publicity". People who have never even heard of Amtrak hear about it after a derailment, otherwise they would remain ignorant that passenger trains even exist in their communities. Some will eventually become passengers.
 
What's more dangerous than riding Amtrak?

01. Crossing the street.

02. Being in a hospital.

03. Visiting a doctor.

04. Eating peanuts.

05. Annoying your mother-in-law.

06. Eating a salad or a underdone burger.

07. Driving 20 miles.

08. Eating in any restaurant.

09. Eating what you cook yourself.

10. Joining the Navy.

11. Going for a walk.

12. Having sex.

13. Jogging.

14. Eating "health supplements"

15. Going outdoors in a thunderstorm.

16. Staying indoors in a thunderstorm.
The problem with your reasoning is that it's difficult if not impossible to comprehend how Amtrak would function as a replacement for any of those events, except perhaps for number seven if living along a major corridor. Which means this long list of examples are not in contention with Amtrak and thus the relative safety of any given comparison is not actionable or otherwise meaningful to anyone outside of an insurance underwriter.

Because the risk from riding trains anywhere is so much tinier than the risk from eating peanuts (not the allergy risk, the aflatoxin risk) how to measure tiny relative risk, like trains in various places -- is difficult -- because the risk is so small. The risk of "getting drunk" in various places is (how many times) more.
Relative safety between modern rail systems is both measurable and comparable and based on what I've seen Amtrak does not fare well compared to other industrialized democracies.
 
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I was wondering whether there would be discussion here...

(interestingly, I seem to recall a few episodes with Stewie and Brian traveling by rail - in a freight car though. I can't remember off hand another other Seth MacFarlane [sp] shows or episodes with rail, but I think there were. Perhaps Amtrak could product place an Acela train in an episode, since I would assume Quohog has a station)
 
Silver Spring??? That's the one where a MARC commuter train exceeded its authority and hit the Capitol Limited, which was operating entirely according to the rules. Right?

Glad I don't watch TV.

Tom
 
I never talked about safety in my comment DA. All I was stating is that the joke that was made will not affect amtrak negatively for the most part.
There's also truth in the old expression that "there is no such thing as bad publicity". People who have never even heard of Amtrak hear about it after a derailment, otherwise they would remain ignorant that passenger trains even exist in their communities. Some will eventually become passengers.
I just saw this part of the episode and I can't think of how them saying "like an actual Amtrak train, this is dangerously out of control" can help ridership.
 
I never talked about safety in my comment DA. All I was stating is that the joke that was made will not affect amtrak negatively for the most part.
There's also truth in the old expression that "there is no such thing as bad publicity". People who have never even heard of Amtrak hear about it after a derailment, otherwise they would remain ignorant that passenger trains even exist in their communities. Some will eventually become passengers.
I just saw this part of the episode and I can't think of how them saying "like an actual Amtrak train, this is dangerously out of control" can help ridership.
And I'm sure people were running to buy Amtrak tickets after 188's derailment.
 
The US does not compare well to other industrialized democracies on *any* measure.

Including industrialization.

And democracy.
 
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