While we at TDPC always sympathize with any parent whose child is injured or killed, I was struck (no pun intended) by a news item at cbc.ca (where else?) today about the Alberta boy injured while trying to hop a freight train recently.
The mother has suggested moving the railroad tracks out of the neighborhood:
Piche said access to the tracks should be permanently blocked or, better yet, the tracks should be moved out of the residential neighbourhood.
Elsewhere in the article, however, we find some further insight into what may be responsible for this accident:
People in the neighbourhood said children are constantly trying to hop trains, and both adults and children use a hole in a fence to cross the CN Rail tracks.
While the fence was repaired Thursday, city worker Ted Gillman said he expected that by Friday morning, someone will have cut the wires.
...
CN Rail says there is a proper crossing 500 metres away and anyone caught trespassing could be fined.
However, notwithstanding what may seem to be the irresponsible practice of locals cutting their way through fences onto train tracks, let's look at the suggestion of moving the tracks away from a residential neighborhood. No doubt this would make things a lot safer. But why stop there?
Wouldn't the 401 be a lot safer, with far fewer accidents, if we moved it to the Yukon? There'd be much less likelihood of a mid-air or near miss, if we moved Heathrow airport to Iceland. And for goodness sakes, why did they build Windsor Castle so close to the airport in the first place?
Submit your own suggestions for safety relocations in the comments.
