November 16, 2007
Do Use Caution While Using Your Cells
It seems that mobile communication technology takes (some of) the blame for yesterday's Berkeley train-related death.
While preoccupied with his cell, Scott Slaughter, 31, was hit and killed by an Amtrak train Thursday morning. Witnesses say that "Slaughter waited for one train to pass on a first set of tracks, then crossed onto the second set of tracks and was hit by a second train."
According to CBS 5, the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau claims that Slaughter neither heard nor saw the train coming at him. Sad. Very sad. We can't count how many times we have crossed intersections, unaware of the red light because we were futzing around with our phone. Ugh. Well, not much else to say, but: again, be careful while talking, texting, and walking on the streets, y'all.
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Ugh is right.
It amazes me how often people get hit by trains given that they are huge, noisy, and behind clearly marked crossing gates and signs like "Active Railroad, No Trespassing." How hard is it to LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!?!
sad but surprising it doesn't happen everyday. i saw a guy on his bike on his phone crossing the street over here in my hood at townsend at king street the other day. i was sure he'd be toast too if the n-judah had been any closer.
they blast their horn more and more these days to get you nimrods to pay more attention.
doesn't always seem to help.
what is so important that it can't wait 30 seconds until you get across a street or train track?
the latest office gossip?
i hope it was worth risking your life.
Last week I saw one of those all too familiar sights: The 20-something female with the "omigawwwd!" disease that plagues much of the city (we're looking at you Marina) yapping away way too loud and animated on her cell while walking down the street in heavy foot traffic. She walked forehead first dead center into one of those short No Parking signs. The thud was so loud and reverberating that everyone around her paused for a second to watch her bounce off the sign. She looked around to see who noticed - then quickly and a little more sideways - continue down the street. I guess there wasn't much to injure in her head. The sign was not damaged.
Call me a bitch, but this is just thinning the herd of morons.
And any idiot who runs a red light gets no sympathy from me when he gets his just desserts. Better the idiot get smashed than yet another pedestrian be mown down because of some driver's self-absorbed idiocy.
LMAO!!!
Marinatard!
did she have one of those awkwardly huge foreheads from hitting too many signs?
You should see what it's like around the Berkeley campus. I see the whole "obliviously wandering into moving traffic while talking on phone or texting" thing all the time. Sometimes cars and buses have to screech to a stop. Occasionally this doesn't even get the moron's attention!
It's becoming a social norm that Your Cell Phone Conversation Trumps Everything.
Answer: have the state require people to sign a pledge before a cell phone can be activated?
Trains are not noisy! Suprisingly quiet when coming at ya at speed.
Yeah but the guy who runs a red light is just as likely to kill me as himself. And even though this guy might have done some innocent future victim a favor by getting hit by a train instead of running head on into said victim while texting at 70 mph, there are probably a few first responders out there getting post traumatic stress counseling today after spending the day placing his remains into sandwich-sized baggies.
I ran into a sign last time I was at SFO. They have these signs strategically placed right in the middle of the high traffic areas, and I was lugging two duffle bags and in a hurry and had my head down and walked right into this thing.
These signs have a weighted, round base and like one of those inflatable punch-a-clown toys, it wobbled back and forth and whacked me in the face repeatedly as the whole security line looked on in amusement.
I think all street signs in this city should be mounted on heavy springs, and they should make a loud honking sound when run into, to brighten the day of all around.
That's really sad.
Wasn't there an activist who also died recently on those same tracks? I know it was definitely in Berkeley as well.
OK, wsanders, you made me laugh, because I know those airport signs well.
I walked into a MUNI bus sign pole not too long ago. I wasn't talking on my phone, but I had done the MUNI step-into-the-street-and-look in the hope that a bus might actually be approaching. When I stepped back onto the sidewalk, I smacked into the bus sign pole. I had remembered the telephone pole nearby but not the separate, metal sign pole. It left a nice scrape mark.
By the way...anyone remember earlier this year when a NY state senator suggested a ban on using devices while crossing streets in NYC? (and the uproar that followed at even suggesting such a thing?)
It's the cell phone pedestrians that are distracted and in real danger. The iPod users, not so much, according to studies.
Leanne: That was at Jack London Square, which has a dual-track at-grade arrangement similar to the Berkeley station:
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/blogs/philanthropist_s_death_saddens_students__colleagues/Content?oid=567087
Agent510: NorCal drivers are invariably shy with their horn honking, unfortunately.
This man was my coworker and my friend. Please keep in mind, when commenting, that this trajic accident just happened a couple of days ago and that many people are still grieving. Hasn't anyone else ever had a momentary lapse in judgement? It is just unfortunate that this happened in life-or-death situation. Please have some respect.
The accident happened at a station, so only one side of the track had a fence. Additionally, the fact that the first train does makes sounds, the second train's noises would have been difficult to distinguish as actually coming from a second.
BTW, he did not drive, so none of your lives would have ever been "at risk". Don't tell me that you think you know enough about him to determine that he was ever one of those people that you are talking about.
That's all.
Thanks for your input, grieving. And sorry for your loss. Sorry, as well, for the more uncouth comments about his death.