High speed train kills 12 teens in Spain

[evanrick]

High speed train kills 11 teens 1 woman in Spain


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5io6qBWPRsELuCRFoP5flmk9A5nqgD9GHLUU80

I am just amazed that this could not be foreseen. These kinds of accidents are preventable, there should have been more of a warning than just the trains whistle. Should we start doubting high speed train safety?

 

[boxerdudeuk]

What a horrific accident. But to be honest, these are people who instead of going the right way and crossing an overpass as required - decided to cross the tracks. On a high speed line. While tragic and sad, their actions were exceptionally stupid. You don't walk across train tracks where you're not supposed to. Unfortunately being teenagers, on the way to a party, with a group mentality (any one of them individually likely wouldn't have done it) led to their deaths. Does not sound like a safety issue at all.

 

[evanrick]

yeah you are right its like jumping off a bridge kind of thing. you think they would know better about crossing train tracks after just getting off one.

 

[Swellegant]

How is this "preventable"? The error was with the victims, not the train. Perhaps if a high wall were erected around the tracks, the kids wouldn't have been able to spill out of the underpass put there for exactly this reason; perhaps the underpass isn't big enough to handle the traffic on this one day of the year; but if people can't understand that train tracks are inherently dangerous, these things will happen.

I mean, if a bunch of teenagers went jaywalking across the freeway because the pedestrian underpass was too crowded, we wouldn't be questioning the safety of freeways, we'd be wondering what the hell was wrong with those kids.

This was a horrible thing to happen, incredibly sad and just sickening; but blaming this or that element is rather silly... it wasn't the train's fault, maybe the station design was inadequate, maybe the festivals should be more organized, certainly the people should be better educated about safety, but there's really nothing that could have prevented this: that's why it's an "accident."

 

[gsdx]

As horrific and tragic as it was, they were at a place where they shouldn't have been. The high-speed train is irrelevant. Any type of train would not have been able to stop in time.

They simply didn't want to wait to get to get where they were going. They took their chances and they lost.

 

[SLOPPYSECONDS]

no wish memory folks that one

speed defo humans all area many cultures way too fast ans no see what comin

 

[FPNY]

natures way of thinning the herds of the dumb ones. i know it sounds harsh, but come on. common sense could have prevented this horrific scenario. you cant even call it an accident.

 

[Fire]

Surely I'm not the only one who imagined Eliza Doolittle singing the title to this thread.

 

[evanrick]

[-x[-x[-x[-x[-x[-x

 

[CumAlong]

Darwin has won a tragic battle yet again...

waste of life though..

 

[boxerdudeuk]

it's just such a horrible tragedy that what was rambunctious stupidity led to 12 families being torn to pieces. what a huge waste of young lives full of promise.

 

[Ephemeral]

A prime example of the "If everyone's jumping off a bridge" scenario.

 

[backpacker]

Very sad indeed. Since the article noted that most were from Latin America, I wonder if they have been from an area where there is only one train at a time. They may not have even thought about the possibility of there being another train. They may have heard the train coming, but assumed it would be traveling slowly as it would be stopping. Not understanding the dangers of high speed trains may have contributed to their poor judgment. They were still where they shouldn't have been and I wouldn't blame the railroad.

This is a terrible accident.

And after reading the article, I was thinking to myself as well that I would not like to be one of the first responders to a scene like that.

Have you guys or anyone you've known had to work scenes like this? and bad car accidents, etc?

I don't think I could stomach it.

I haven't worked as a first responder, but I was one of the first to a fatal car vs. train accident. I tried to focus on helping without thinking about how messed up the situation was. Once everything was under control is when it really hit me. I sure wouldn't want to deal with stuff like that on a daily basis.

 

[Ephemeral]

^But couldn't they feel the vibrations from the other train getting stronger and stronger? Or see the train's light getting brighter? When they jumped off, they had to have seen the train coming closer.

Were they drunk or something? I don't see how 14 people didn't notice a high-speed train coming toward them.

 

[geloge]

Sant Jhon night is a big festival in Spain, specially in the coast. How could you prevent this? Don't drink until you don't know what you are doing. Easy.