

Nvidia worker killed by Caltrain was trying to save man on tracks - grej
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_24989424/tech-worker-killed-by-train-santa-clara-was

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kendalk
For a man to risk his life -- and to lose his life -- for another, perhaps
even a stranger, is something else.

I once was caught in the path of an oncoming train. I was on a school bus when
the driver attempted to cross the tracks before the train. The bus stalled
mid-way. My seat on the bus was directly over the tracks.

The train came around a bend and all the kids panicked. Half went to the front
door, jamming it, and the other half went to the back door, jamming it. I was
trapped. All I could do was watch the train coming and pray.

The engine suddenly started back up and the bus started to move as the train
was getting closer. The train missed us by a couple of feet.

I know what this man saw coming toward him. You don't ever want to see one of
those things coming at you!

To control that fear as you're trying to help another... this man was a hero.

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pjene
It's 2014. Why don't tracks have sensors communicating with trains over radio
waves?

~~~
kendalk
I don't know what safety measures are used, if any.

It can take a train moving at 50 mph up to a mile to stop after the engineer
pulls the emergency brake. If someone can see the train coming it can't stop
before it hits. The nightmare of every train engineer is seeing a car or a
person on the tracks and knowing there is nothing he can do.

