by Arborwayfan
I agree, Tadman.
I bet most people, including most reps and senators, don't know how few people die on trains, because reports of train wrecks often cite a yearly death toll without saying how many are people hit by trains. And even if they did, most people seem to favor those who get hit. Indiana has a lot of grade crossing collisions (we have a lot of grade crossings with a lot of trains, including a lot of unsignalled crossings on country roads) and the general public opinion seems to me to be that it is somehow the railroad's fault -- for not cutting the brush or not providing flashers or gates where there is poor visibility, which is actually a reasonable complaint, or for going too fast, or just for existing. I have rarely heard anyone except a cop or a railroad rep admit that the driver most likely raced the train; ordinary people seem to assume they could not see or hear it coming.
I bet most people, including most reps and senators, don't know how few people die on trains, because reports of train wrecks often cite a yearly death toll without saying how many are people hit by trains. And even if they did, most people seem to favor those who get hit. Indiana has a lot of grade crossing collisions (we have a lot of grade crossings with a lot of trains, including a lot of unsignalled crossings on country roads) and the general public opinion seems to me to be that it is somehow the railroad's fault -- for not cutting the brush or not providing flashers or gates where there is poor visibility, which is actually a reasonable complaint, or for going too fast, or just for existing. I have rarely heard anyone except a cop or a railroad rep admit that the driver most likely raced the train; ordinary people seem to assume they could not see or hear it coming.