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This morning around 6:45, a pedestrian was killed by a northbound Caltrain near the Mountain View train station. Train service was help up for about an hour afterwards and started up again around 8 and there were 20-30 minute delays afterwards. It's the twelfth death this year involving the trains. There were ten last year and according to the police, about 80% of them were suicides.
The rise in fatalities in recent years has caused people to call for better safety measures. The fact that most of the fatalities are due to suicide will probably call for other types of measures, somewhere along the lines of the debate over barriers on the Golden Gate Bridge to stop people from jumping.
To quote Sgt. Esterhaus from "Hill Street Blues," let's be careful out there.
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if someone wants to commit suicide by throwing themselves in front of a train, i'm not sure any amount of barriers will help.
even suicide helpline phones or signs probably wouldn't help much. it's more than just a cry for help to die by train.
it's all very sad.
I was on a train earlier this year and it was held up by a suicide for about 2 hours. It seriously sucks... there are better ways to commit suicide... :(
The title of this really should be rephrased. Caltrain is not out to kill anyone and there is no lack of warning with the safety notices, fences, crossing signs, flashing lights and very big and loud trains with very loud horns.
Whether or not its a suicide "Pedestrian kills self with train" would be a more appropriate title.
I got a couple of e-mails about the headline and, you know, I really thought about it when I posted because that little inner voice told me it wasn't exactly an accurate descrption of what happened. But I did it anyways.
Next time I do one of these posts, I'll make sure not to make it sound like Caltrain is something out of a Stephen King novel.