http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28278606 OMGGGGG I dont understand?!?! If she had time to call the police, she should have had time to step out of her car and walk out of the range of the train. Jesus H Christ, Someone even tried to get her to leave her car; how stupid are people getting these days? Im thinking this is a) a 18 year old blond chick or b) a 80 year old woman. agghhh boils my blood that people can be this dumb.
Many people (and not just Americans, or those that are traditionally presumed to be lacking in good judgment), become easily disoriented while crossing rail track road junctions, and more often than not, miscalculate (sometimes fatally) the speed with which trains travel. One item that researchers have repeatedly identified over the years is people mistakenly assume that they will have ample warning by sound cues that the train is approaching, and this is simply not so. I remember demonstrating this to my sons years ago while standing on a Long Island Rail Road platform; I told them to face away from the approaching train, and then when they heard the train coming, to immediately raise their hands. With their hands at their sides, they listened attentively and both said "oh, shit..." when the train roared past them unexpectedly; that is, before they even had time to hear it and react. And this was a train that was in the process of slowing as it entered the station. Trains going past a rail crossing don't even bother to slow. Some of those trains will travel at speeds of 80 miles per hour (130 KPH). I think the woman (in this case) simply miscalculated her window of escape opportunity and unfortunately paid with her life. In a different case that was captured on camera, an example of how fast trains can travel:
^ you'd have to be pretty damned disoriented to sit in your car and make a call to police then wait there while a guy is telling you to get out of your vehicle rather than get out and save yourself
