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“Miracle in Rockville” a teachable moment wasted
Friday, May 15, 2009
On Friday, May 8, around 4:50 PM, a car was stopped in traffic at the Randolph Road crossing in Rockville, Maryland. A MARC train (the first one after Amtrak’s Capitol Limited) hit the car, forcing it into a crossing gate which impaled the car through the rear and front windows, coming within inches of the pregnant driver’s head (see link below for dramatic photo). Media attention apparently focused exclusively on the fact that the driver was miraculously unhurt (except for minor air-bag-related injuries):
She didn’t think to jump out of the car—although, if she had, she might have been hit by the train, Valencia said. It all happened in a matter of seconds, and when she opened her eyes after the collision, the gate arm was touching her head.
Here was an opportunity to avoid future accidents by imploring viewers not to enter a railroad crossing until the next vehicle ahead if far enough to let you clear the tracks quickly.
Motorists who fail to use common sense in this regard risk their own lives and their passengers’ lives. Such accidents also traumatize the engineer (incorrectly referred to here by NBC Channel 4 as a “conductor”) and wreak havoc on the schedules of (in this case) 3,000 MARC train commuters, many of whom have day care pick-ups and other commitments, as well as any motorists whose normal route takes them across this crossing.
It is wonderful that the woman and her unborn child were so lucky. But the fact that her driving error caused the accident, and that it is an all-too-common error, obligates the media to make use of this teachable moment rather than to focus exclusively on one lucky motorist.
—Ross Capon, NARP President
Posted by NARP
Tags: crossing, marc, safety,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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