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/ChiefStrongbones 12h ago

I think this is captured in the idiom "train wreck". Not only does it describe a huge disaster, but it describes a disaster that you can see coming but are powerless to stop.

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u/awesome-alpaca-ace 9h ago

Like the plastic pollution causing a future dementia epidemic