Miss Deaf Texas hit by train--didn't hear whistles

[Horse with no Name]

Apparently was walking along the tracks.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/031406dntextrainaccident.d48d09f.html

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. This is fishy

Trains also rumble the ground pretty good and they have great big lights on the front of them.

[Bluebear]

4. You suspect foul play then?

[benburch]

7. I suspect suicide... nt

[Bluebear]

9. Ahhh

:(

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

27. I don't know...not necessarily

Maybe she had done it many times in the past without incident. Maybe she knew the train schedules but they changed while she was at school.

I grew up in a house a block from train tracks. They only serviced freight trains that ran infrequently and moved through town relatively slowly.

The tracks were fun to walk on and a good shortcut to places we liked - a big park with a playground, a river, a store with a big cutout record bin. They were a good place to hang out with other kids, too. I had my first kiss on those tracks.

Suicide can't be ruled out, but if she had a habit of walking tracks and was nostalgic for them after being away from home for the first time, she might have done so for purely innocuous reasons.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Why? Why would you walk along train tracks?

ESPECIALLY if you're deaf! :cry:

[Horse with no Name]

8. That is what I was thinking

:shrug:

[Bluebear]

3. PHOTO>>>>

What a horrible thing to have happened.



http://www.deaftexas.org/miss_deaf_texas.htm

[Taverner]

60. That sucks

I don't understand why she was walking along the tracks...but I don't think she was murdered, or stupid...we don't have all the facts.

It's just a fucking tragedy

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. How sad

There was a similar death here a couple years ago. Two deaf kids on a train track. I wondered then and I wonder now - can they not feel the ground vibrations of the approaching train?

[JI7]

11. there was a deaf guy shot and killed

not too long ago because some idiots in a gang took his doing sign language as making gang signs.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Oh that is horrible

How sad.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Aaaaachoooobullshit

Come on, now.

[benburch]

32. It was a real news story.

But the news often reports things that just aren't so...

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. No that doesn't surprise me at all

I have worked with deaf and hard of hearing kids. They sometimes refuse to use certain signs because they resemble gang signs. It is a bigger and bigger issue all the time.

[JI7]

39. here is a link to it

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_028111657.html

[Catherine Vincent]

51. That was on an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond"

The copy brother was chastized for arresting a deaf guy using the sign language. He thought the guy was doing gang signs.

[soothsayer]

18. Trains are AWFULLY fast. Too late, by time you feel 'em.

[benburch]

6. I wonder if it was intentional?

She started college in January... and had returned home from there already.

I wonder if the poor girl was emotionally distraught and suicidal?

[Horse with no Name]

10. Those were the first thoughts I had when I read the article

Nothing else makes sense.

[bananas]

16. There was a witness

Maybe more details will emerge.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8GB2MC80.html

<snip>

Witness Carlos Burgos told Austin television station KTBC that the train was sounding its horn right up until the time the accident happened.

<snip>

[Eric J in MN]

12. People with hearing who walk on the tracks with the train

approaching behind them usually can't hear it, either.

By the time the train is audible, it's too late.

Don't walk on railroad tracks.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. But can't you FEEL the ground vibrating as the train approaches?

[Marie26]

17. Yes

I'm partially deaf, and can always feel cars or trains as they pass, even if I can't hear them. Most people who are deaf have learned to accomodate & stay alert when crossing the street, or certainly when walking along train tracks. If I had to guess, I would say that this was a suicide. It's very sad.

[LisaL]

54. And I bet your guess would be completely wrong.

She was not walking on the tracks themselves, but about a foot away from the tracks. She was hit by a snowplow that extends from the train. She was text messaging her parents telling them she is coming to see her mother.
I have no clue how anyone can come up with "she killed herself" because she was deaf and did not hear the damn train.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3725173.html

[Marie26]

56. Well,

If it wasn't a suicide, she was being extremely careless. Really, really careless. Hearing-impaired people need to take precautions, especially in a potentially dangerous area like a busy street, or a train track. I can't speak as to what happened in this case, I can just speak as to my own first-hand experiences. I can see her being distracted enough not to take those precautions, but it almost makes me mad. It's so sad, and such a waste. It's just a tragedy no matter what.

[LisaL]

58. People die in accidents every freaking day.

Not just deaf. She was not on the track, but a foot away. She most likely didn't realize that snowplow would extend from the train and hit her.

[Marie26]

61. Did I say I disagree with you?

Read my post again.

[greyl]

63. Trains are a few feet wider than the tracks.

Walking a foot away from the track isn't being careful.

[Eric J in MN]

19. plenty of people die walking on train tracks

because they don't have warning on time

[EST]

23. Precisely!

Lots of folks, with normal sight/hearing get killed every year, assuming they are too smart to be run over by a train. See my sig line.

[Marie26]

41. yeah, but that's because

they're expecting a warning. Deaf people know that they're not going to get a warning & so have to be more alert to potential dangers.

[harpo]

13. <self-delete>

[Nostradammit]

20. An entry from her college website:

http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/AcademicTeams/Team11/2003-2004/student/tara.html


How tragic.

[donheld]

21. Whatever the details are it's all very sad.

O8)

[SoCalDem]

22. Miss Darwin??

I'm sorry, but her Momma didn't teach her very well if she was putting herself in an obviously dangerous position.. I mean..really!

If she meant to commit suicide, shame on her for putting that image into the heads of all the rail workers and the train engineer.. THEY CANNOT STOP..AND ARE FIXED ON A TRACK..THEY CANNOT SWERVE..

[theHandpuppet]

24. Yes, my father had to endure this experience several times

He was a lifelong RR employee who spent many years as a yardmaster and then superintendent. He was called to the scene of several deaths from people walking on the tracks... some of those deaths were suicides, with people actually jumping into the path of the train. My Dad was a big, strong man, a WWII and Korean vet, but he carried those scenes in his head all his life. Getting hit by a train is not the prettiest way to die, and the men working those trains were traumatized by the experience.

My sympathies go out not only to the family of the young woman who died, but to those RR employees.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. A good friend lost his job with the rr

when a car crossed the tracks and his train hit it. He was the engineer. Even though it wasn't his fault, he was fired because he was on probation for another (minor) offense.

The rr is very safety conscious - to a fault almost.

[Bridget Burke]

29. Since she was born deaf, I'm sure you're happy for the gene pool.

According to the morning news, an investigation is underway. WHY was this particular young woman walking on the train tracks?

[benburch]

30. Now, that was a bit harsh, don't you think?

Do not dismiss the agony suffered by the locomotive engineers.

It is like this; It takes well over a mile to stop a heavy freight moving at road speeds. You probably see the person on the tracks at around a mile and start using your air horn. Usually they move right away. By the time you are at a half mile you are in a full application of the brakes, and are using the horn heavily. You are praying that the person will move, because you have no further control of the situation. All you can do is WATCH. And when you do hit the pedestrian, you then wind up on the receiving end of an investigation and have to deal with the memory of what that person looked like after thousands of tons of moving train was done with her.

I feel for both the family and the crew, but do understand that the crew are likely the ones who suffer the most here.

I speak as somebody who has hung around with train crews all of his life (our tavern drew the switching crews from the local interchange at Spaulding) and who heard all the stories.

EDIT: I thought your reply was to a different posting... Sorry. Ignore the criticism, but the parts about the train crews seem valuable enough to leave.

[Bridget Burke]

31. I once hung out with a railroad employee...

I've heard the descriptions & I feel for them, too.

(& I've deleted my reply to the criticism that was not directed at me. Luckily, I read your Edit before I posted.)

[SoCalDem]

36. I know LOTS of deaf people, and that was NOT my intent

..MY deaf friends KNOW what's safe for them to do, and do NOT put themselves into obviously dangerous situations..

Maybe she had been drinking and took a chance. I AM sorry for her and her family..

[Hawkeye-X]

45. I was born deaf.

So i should die now because it's a waste of my life?

[SoCalDem]

48. My deaf friends are just more careful, I guess

Shame on her for not using more care..If she committed suicide, I feel for her, but she left a pretty awful thing for her parents to deal with..

It's not as much about her deafness..as her carelessness..She was not a little kid who didn't know any better..

I doubt that YOU would wander around next to trains, knowing you might not hear them coming..

Most people with disabilities plan two or three steps ahead and exercise a lot of caution.. Trains cannot stop..people have to stay out of their way or it always ends badly..

[Marie26]

40. Mean

Most people who commit suicide are so despondent, they don't think about the effects on other people. And if this was truly an accident, you're insulting a woman because of her disability. It's mean either way. But I do feel sorry for the train engineer as well; that must have been a horrible event.

[sutz12]

26. Often the warnings aren't in time enough...

Large vehicles/objects appear to be moving slower than they really are. It's a matter of perspective.

Very sad story, no matter what the circumstances.

[dogday]

28. 1. - It almost sounds like a made up story

2.- It could only happen it Texas....

[Neil Lisst]

35. I hear the train a comin', it's rollin' round the bend ...

I'm thinking if someone who is deaf is hit by a train while walking on a train track, deaf person was making a choice.

[WI_DEM]

37. Very sad

I feel for her friends and family. It's also sad to see some of the flippant replies on this thread.

[sakabatou]

38. ...

Can't say anything about this without coming off as an asshat.

[CBGLuthier]

42. Hell, don't let that stop you

It didn't stop a few of these other fine "compassionate" folks.

Really, why can't people just say how sad it is for everyone and move on instead of cheap shitty comments and speculation.

[peekaloo]

43. Local Austin news says she was text messaging at the time.

:-(

[Neil Lisst]

44. better to laugh than to cry

This woman chose to end her life, and she chose this way to do it. Who knows why, but it was her choice. She was obviously an accomplished person.

I'm sure when she planned it, she planned the part where a deaf girl doesn't hear the train coming that will kill her.

I appreciate it for what it is - her statement. I think she would be happy I appreciate it as I do, and find humor in it.

And now, I'm going to go back to listening to Mary Matlin singing Johnny Cash's favorite songs about trains.

DADDY, WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO RIDE A TRAIN?!

[LisaL]

49. HTF can you assume she chose it?

People that can hear get hit by a train. It's not always suicide.
She probably just didn't hear a train coming because she is freaking DEAF!

[Neil Lisst]

50. you say potato

I say suicide.

[LisaL]

52. And I say bull-you have no evidence whatsoever it was suicide.

Add to that she was not walking on the tracks, but a foot away. She was hit by a snowplow that extends from the train.
She simply did not hear the train because -DAH-she is DEAF.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3725173.html

[Neil Lisst]

55. like I said

She committed suicide.

You choose to believe otherwise, which is your choice.

[LisaL]

57. You said? Based on what? A little voice in your head tell you?

She was walking a foot away from the tracks. She was killed by a snowplow that extends from the train. Do you think she calculated the extension and picked the right distance away from the tracks to be hit at a precise angle? If so, that's nuts.

[Neil Lisst]

59. I think

you're not a person I intend to spend any more time talking to

[dogday]

46. RIP Miss Deaf Texas

a sad sad story.....

edited to spell the word Deaf, oops sorry :spank:

[Bluebear]

47. Miss DEAF not Miss DEATH!

:)

[Catherine Vincent]

53. I can only sigh as a result of some of the responses here.

Is there a smilie for sighing?

[im10ashus]

64. I just always shrug.

:shrug:

[im10ashus]

62. That's very sad.

I wonder if there were lights around indicating the oncoming train. The article is vague in its content. Bless her heart.

[paulk]

65. I worked for the railroad twenty years - with the safety

considerations of working around trains pounded into my head on a daily basis

and I still almost got hit by a train once.

If you have your back to it, it's a fast train, and the wind is blowing - you won't hear it or feel the ground shake.

Trains are just incredibly dangerous. You don't have to be physically in the path of it, even. A really fast train will actually suck you into it - that's what happened to me - it lifted me right up onto my tiptoes. Damned frightening, believe me.

A woman was killed when I was working near Walcott Junction, WY about fifteen years ago - she wasn't even hit by the train - it just caught the edge of her backpack. It spun her around so fast it snapped her neck.

Lesson being - don't walk on the tracks or near the tracks.

[Horse with no Name]

66. Thank you for this insight

When I originally posted the article, there wasn't any additional information available other than she wasn't going to school and was walking along the tracks which could very well lead to someone being suicidal.
That is very careless if you are hearing, and doubly so if you aren't.

However, with the new information that has come to light as well as the information you share...it must have been just a tragic accident.

I can't imagine not hearing. Perhaps she was thrill seeking as most kids that age do and walking on the side of danger next to the tracks (I used to hold to the top of a volkswagon while my friend spun it around).
Most of us have done some variance of it in our misspent youth.

Regardless of what happened, the story is a tragic end to a beautiful life.
Prayers for her family and may she rest in peace.