Re: Read "AT THE CONTROLS, BUT NOT IN CONTROL"
Author: allblack
Date: 08-09-2007 - 07:39
Everything in the article rings true. However I have never liked the wording "engineers kill people". If an engineer is not speeding, has the headlight on bright, is blowing the horn and ringing the bell when someone gets hit by a train THE ENGINEER DID NOT KILL THEM. If I were to fall off a cliff would people say "The cliff killed him?" Getting killed by a train is self induced either by poor judgment or outright suicide. Let's call it self-inflicted death by train.
Think about it this way. Did the fireman kill the person at the crossing? The conductor? The flagman? How about the dining car steward? No, they were all working and riding on a train--as was the engineer. I have been so incredibly lucky, in 20 years behind the throttle to have never been involved in a fatal grade crossing accident. But if I ever am I hope that I will never add guilt or even erroneous terminology to the horror of the scene that I witness.