Two killed in separate Caltrain collisions in San Jose, Santa Clara

[DET63]

Two people were killed in separate Caltrain collisions Thursday — one in Santa Clara and the second, nearly three hours later, near downtown San Jose. 

Authorities have not released the names of either victim.

 

Thursday's deaths brought to 19 the number of people who died in 2009 while on Caltrain tracks — one shy of the record high, 20, set in 1995, according to spokeswoman Christine Dunn.

 

This year, however, saw high-profile suicides along the Caltrain route in Palo Alto, where three Gunn High School students and a 13-year-old who was about to become a freshman at Gunn were killed by trains running near campus. Last year, there were 16 deaths along the 77-mile corridor stretching from San Francisco to Gilroy.

 

"This has been a very difficult year for Caltrain," Dunn said. "The impacts of these tragedies weigh heavily on our employees. Caltrain continues to work diligently to educate the public about safety around railroad tracks."

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A couple of points:

1. Education about the dangers of hanging around railroad tracks isn't going to stop someone from committing cuicide. Suicide-prevention techniques (assuming there are any that work—and, given this, I have my doubts that there are any) are needed.
   
2. Common sense should tell anyone with a double-digit IQ or higher that trains can't stop on a dime, but that they can hurt you very badly if you let one of them hit you. They also can't change their direction if you happen to be in the way. DUH.
   

 

[amtrakwolverine]

and now you got parents who demand caltrain slow the trains to 5MPH to deter teen deaths.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Education about the dangers of hanging around railroad tracks isn't going to stop someone from committing cuicide.

Is cuicide what you do when you get very very angry at your equipment after losing a game of pool?

 

[DET63]

Education about the dangers of hanging around railroad tracks isn't going to stop someone from committing cuicide.

Is cuicide what you do when you get very very angry at your equipment after losing a game of pool?

Only if you whack yourself over the head with it, or poke yourself in the eye. I suppose you could do either with a train (e.g., tie the stick to the side of the locomotive and place yourself in the right position to make sure it offs you).