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I live 5 minutes from where that happened. Although tragic, the fact they were teenagers made no difference. In this area many people run the tracks, adults and teenagers, whether the gates are down or not (they weave around them). That amtrack probably goes 60 to 70 mph down the track. They probably thought it was one of the slower trains around here that stops on the tracks and blocks the road for 20 minutes.
I am really careful when I cross that particular track. I don't trust the signals with a train that goes that fast.
Adults should set the example. And better gates that do not allow cars to slip through would help. Not sure if that's a cost, or safety thing for emergency vehicles, that gates to not go all the way across both lanes.
That story had me shaken because I have a nephew who lives in Canton who is just learning how to drive. I guess I should retract my statement about learning too early. I think they should learn early, but I don't think they should be able to be on their own shortly after. Graduated licenses are a good idea and it's also a good idea for parents to take an active role. I just worry. Life is fragile and it can be taken away in a snap by one misjudgement.
LisaMc46 - I don't know where you live, but in Ohio, the type of street dictates the speed limit even if it is not marked. 25 in residential, 50 on state routes outside urban districts, etc. If it is not posted, too bad for you if you don't know the speed limit and get a ticket. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what the speed limit is if the girls pathetic worthless parents aren't going to do anything about it.
Do you know of any schedule that the girl follows? If you know she will always be home at a certain time, you could ask the police to try to catch her speeding. Even if they deny your request, or you don't know of a good time for a steakout, you could inform the parents that you have requested the police to do this. Knowing/thinking the police will/could be on the lookout may make them get themselves in gear.
Or you could do something really mean like my uncles used to do. They used to wait by their car in the road, and then when a car came past, they would hit it with their knee so the person would think they hit them. And of course they would fall on the street and act hurt. Oh - and they did this as children just to torment people, and then they would get up and run away after they thought the person was upset enough. Evil I know! Until th eone day a man chased after them! LMAO!
I learned more about driving in an old Jeep out in the country with my grandfather than I ever did from drivers ed. If you want your kids to be good drivers, first you must be a good driver and second you must invest the time with them to teach them what you know.
I agree. My dad and my older sister used to take me out driving our stick shift car in the community college parking lot, starting when I was 14. It was a safe place to learn and I could stall out without fear of someone ramming me from behind. I practiced for a year and a half until I got my license on my 16th birthday.
I also took driver's ed through our school system. It was pretty much a joke. It was a 6 week class in the summer. We received our permits at age 15 1/2 and could drive on the roads and highways as long as a parent was in the passenger seat next to us. We were allowed our full-fledged license on our 16th birthday.
This was in Michigan in the 1980's.
Teens nearly always make it across the tracks before the train. Don't worry about them.
Do you think drivers-ed would help? Is "not driving in front of a speeding locomotive" behavior that can be learned at the tender age of 16? Today, class, we're going to study Chapter 12, "Don't pull out in front of a train." Several students waving their hand saying "Why not?"
in behavioral science its called personal fable. its what makes a 16 year old-- stay up all night party all semester-- act up in class, dont crack a book once in math class,-- pull an F on the final and be astounded when he fails.
I'm at my wits end with my neighbor's 16-year-old daughter. Her grandparents bought her a brand-new jeep Cherokee for her birthday. We live on a cul de sac filled with kids and she drives in and out at 40 mph.
I mentioned my concerns to her dad and he said that he had spoken to her about slowing down, but she doesn't listen to him. My neighbor who is and ER physician spoke to him about the kids he's seen over the years who've been hit by cars and offered to speak to the teen about how her life would be changed if she hit and injured/killed a child. Her father said that wouldn't be necessary.
Another neighbor has purchased a little plastic sign that says "Slow Down, Children at Play." She puts it on the roadside near her driveway to led the teen driver know kids are out on their bikes, but she just whizzes by.
All of our kids have been taught bike safety skills. They know to stay on the right side of the road and to look both ways before crossing the street. And of course no one lets their toddlers, little kids on the road by themselves. Still, I'm terrified that one day, she'll fly around one of the sharp curves along our road and hit some kid who has fallen of his bike, or a kid who is riding side-by-side with a friend.
There is nothing we can do from a legal point of view. Because no speed limit is posted on our road drivers can technically go 40 mph. The only way for us to get the speed limit posted to 25 mph would be for the town to commission a traffic study, something it won't do for a road with 12 houses on it.
I wish her parents would take the car away for a week or two to force her to think about the importance of driving safety, but that's not likely to happen.
zLook up "Caltrops" on te internet. Then buy a handful. No more Jeep problems.
My son will get his learners permit next week. I also have a 30 YO. My oldest is a very safe driver, although a risk taker in other areas of life. I have worked in the DUI community and would come home with horror stories.
I talk about safe driving all the time when I am driving with my 15 & 12 YO. I have drilled it into their heads that you can be in the right and be dead. You have to always look ahead and anticipate what the other drivers will do. If someone stops on the tracks, I will say how stupid that is and point out when the car is sandwiched on the tracks between two vehicles, saying, "Now what is that person going to do if a train comes?
When we pass a traffic crash and see the tell tale signs of no seat belt by the spider-webbed smashed windshield, I ask my kids- which person in that vehicle was not wearing a seat belt? If the car is minimally damaged, I point that out and say, "Just imagine how it must have felt when that person's head smashed into the windshield enough to break it, even though the car is hardly damaged."
When a ball rolls into the street I point out that a kid or pet could follow.
And I always discuss how to handle someone riding our rear when it occurs and show them how I just take my foot off the gas, but do not apply my breaks. This way the tailgater will slow down, but not think you are being aggressive by tapping the brakes.
I have done this since my kids could speak, not just recently. It's just a normal part of our driving conversation. Now they point out careless actions by other drivers. And me, on occasion
I am worried about cell phone use while driving and have not been the best example of that. It didn't occur to me until I realized that my second son was about to begin driving. Being a good example is always the best form of education and I have failed at that. Now I am pulling over to talk and, hopefully, it is not too late for him to learn this lesson.
I'm at my wits end with my neighbor's 16-year-old daughter. Her grandparents bought her a brand-new jeep Cherokee for her birthday. We live on a cul de sac filled with kids and she drives in and out at 40 mph.
I mentioned my concerns to her dad and he said that he had spoken to her about slowing down, but she doesn't listen to him. My neighbor who is and ER physician spoke to him about the kids he's seen over the years who've been hit by cars and offered to speak to the teen about how her life would be changed if she hit and injured/killed a child. Her father said that wouldn't be necessary.
Another neighbor has purchased a little plastic sign that says "Slow Down, Children at Play." She puts it on the roadside near her driveway to led the teen driver know kids are out on their bikes, but she just whizzes by.
All of our kids have been taught bike safety skills. They know to stay on the right side of the road and to look both ways before crossing the street. And of course no one lets their toddlers, little kids on the road by themselves. Still, I'm terrified that one day, she'll fly around one of the sharp curves along our road and hit some kid who has fallen of his bike, or a kid who is riding side-by-side with a friend.
There is nothing we can do from a legal point of view. Because no speed limit is posted on our road drivers can technically go 40 mph. The only way for us to get the speed limit posted to 25 mph would be for the town to commission a traffic study, something it won't do for a road with 12 houses on it.
I wish her parents would take the car away for a week or two to force her to think about the importance of driving safety, but that's not likely to happen.
Do you think it would help to speak to the girl herself? In a nice, "you may not realize this, but...." kind of way? Point out instances where she may be driving and a young child could run into the street?
I once took a class of kids to the morgue and that was an eye opener.
When my oldest was a toddler, we had a similar situation and I was in my yard when the teen speeded passed and I tossed a largish doll in front of his car. Freaked the hell out of him! I probably wouldn't do this now, though. He knew where I lived...
In my neighborhood now we have problem off and on with speeding and what I do is, when walking my dog, take a ball along. Those 12" kind from Walmart. When I hear a car speeding past, I roll it into the street in front of the car, as though it was unintentional.
Lisa, nobody speeds in towns in Mexico. They have discovered the miracle of the speed hump. About $100 worth of quik-crete laid across the street in a couple of places will have her down to 5 mph in no time.
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