Passenger Trains > "Brightline deadliest per mile"

I first heard this on the evening news here in Orlando...had to look up the article :

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/transportation/fl-ne-brightline-deaths-20191202-xewfr7rf3fdc5o7wifofiqjuim-story.html

Can't read the article as payment is required. But assume the gist of the article is the evil train is killing people left and right and should be banned. Hope that's not the case and the article lays blame where it belongs....on the idiots who illegally end up on the tracks. 

         American people are absolutely suckered by headlines such as that. All it means is there are more morons, drunks, dopers, or whatever is required of them to walk down the middle of the tracks and get smooshed by the train than other places. Should be telling them they have a human problem but that would require something be done and they for the most apart are incompetent and unwilling to correct those human errors.

It's too bad that the original poster didn't summarize the article.  An interesting fact from the article is that the reported deaths on Brightline are one per 29,000 miles, the worst per-mile death rate of the nation's 821 railroads.  For FEC the rate is one death per 160,000 miles.  The article also discusses the impact of deaths upon the crew members. 

An interesting quote: "None of Brightline's deaths was caused by crew error or faulty equipment, according to law enforcement and federal reports.  The majority have been suicides, while most others involved impatient motorists, pedestrians or bicyclists who misjudged the trains' speed and ignored bells, gates or other warnings.  Drugs, alcohol or both have been found in many victims' systems."

I suspect Brightline also has the highest ratio of dead trespassers to  passengers of any transit system as well. There is lots of reporting of fatalities and the great property development opportunities related to the service but next to nothing about the numbers using the service. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/19 06:39 by GettingShort.

Dumbest per capita?

E.G., Mar Lago?

Highspeed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dumbest per capita?

Steve Donaldson
Pacific Grove, CA

aclfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's too bad that the original poster didn't
> summarize the article.  An interesting fact from
> the article is that the reported deaths on
> Brightline are one per 29,000 miles...



Per miles of what?


 

Duna Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> aclfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's too bad that the original poster didn't
> > summarize the article.  An interesting fact
> from
> > the article is that the reported deaths on
> > Brightline are one per 29,000 miles...
>
>
>
> Per miles of what?
>
>
>  

Train-miles, apparently. Miami to West Palm Beach is 65 miles, so that's one fatality for every 446 one-way trips.

From the article:

The first death involving a Brightline train, which officially launched in January 2018, happened in July 2017 during test runs. Since then, 40 more have been killed — a rate of more than one a month and about one for every 29,000 miles the trains have traveled, according to an analysis of Federal Railroad Administration data by The Associated Press.

That’s the worst per-mile death rate of the nation’s 821 railroads.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/19 10:47 by Dcmcrider.

Are they tracking the ago of these fatalities? A lot of older people in that state haven't seen any fast trains for well over 60 years and they are clueless as to what they are.

djansson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are they tracking the ago of these fatalities? A
> lot of older people in that state haven't seen any
> fast trains for well over 60 years and they are
> clueless as to what they are.

You have got to be kidding!!!!   You mean the flashing red lights and lowered crossing gates provide no clue?

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can't read the article as payment is required. But
> assume the gist of the article is the evil train
> is killing people left and right and should be
> banned.

I had no trouble accessing the article.  It said nothing of the sort.

Hope that's not the case and the article
> lays blame where it belongs....on the idiots who
> illegally end up on the tracks. 

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had no trouble accessing the article.  It said
> nothing of the sort.

That's because you haven't reached your limit of free articles yet. 
 

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RuleG Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > I had no trouble accessing the article.  It said nothing of the sort.
>
> That's because you haven't reached your limit of free articles yet.

Or perhaps andersonb109 likes to use "in private" (or incognito) mode browsing.  They won't let you read free if you insist on safeguarding your privacy that way.

It's an AP article, and it's available regardless of browser mode.
From the source:
https://apnews.com/0973281682ed4cc9bbd33a5fd569d5d5



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/19 09:18 by tmurray.

Many of the deaths were discussed here, in real time. Although BrightLine is the focus of this article and report, both Florida East Coast and commuter operator Tri-Rail have had similar problems with deaths on the tracks.

About half seem to be outright suicides, some are outright stupidity (like driving around the gates), and drugs or alcohol play a role in others.

But, my question is why are there so few deaths on the tracks in the towns north of West Palm Beach?  FEC runs a lot of trains, and there are lots of grade crossings.  Amtrak and CSX run 6-8 trains daily, on their line north of Mangonia.  The unfortunate accident last week was the first I recall north of Tri-Rail territory in a long time.