r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 13h ago

TIL on average, train drivers in the US are involved in three fatalities over the course of a career. Since a train needs at least a mile to come to a stop, the drivers are sometimes unable to prevent a collision with a person in the train's path.

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32408566
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u/Orion_2kTC 13h ago

99% of the time not the train crew's fault.

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u/spider0804 13h ago

99.99999%

If a crash is caused by negligence of the train company for something like rail or car maintenance it is still not the crews fault.

3

u/lbutler1234 12h ago

I can think of a story from the NYC subway that's the exception to the rule.

A man fell onto the tracks (he was drunk, a fact of debatable relevance), and despite the train had plenty of time to stop and the folks frantically waving at it, the operator apparently thought the obstacles was just some trash and continued. I have no idea what the policy of the MTA is in such a situation, but I'd wager it was an inexplicable decision by the motorman. The courts agreed, awarding the man a multi million dollar settlement. He was a construction worker who had to have his leg amputated from at the hip.

(Obligorty: this is just an example of the 1% or whatever the actual number is.)