Again...really, for the safety of our kids, this deadly, barreling million pound train must be replaced and the corridor unified with the rest of electrified, safer, more frequent, grade-separated Bay Area rail/commutes by killing this Caltrain Killtrain while phasing in BART down the Peninsula to join BART's future destination at Santa Clara University (over the next, say, 10 years...while Caltrain will still be killing 1 to 1.5 persons per month. 5 already dead this year as of (05/03/12). Why do we and the Democrat monopoly of elected officials tolerate this dangerous train in our every densifying Peninsula communities?
It is RIDIULOUS to maintain this deadly, outdated 1863 trackage) Caltrain killing (and accident prone) in Silicon Valley!!!!!!

The Train always wins.

Come on people, the tracks are clearly visible. Don't stop anywhere close to them. If the light is red, then don't even cross the tracks. Stop behind the tracks until the light turns green and you can cross freely. The city should ban right turns on red near the train tracks just to emphasize how stupid this is.

I actually witnessed this event, although from inside a store (Mi Pueblo). I do not believe this *accident* is the fault of anyone, especially not the train system. It seems as if the driver of the car had car trouble while crossing the tracks as the bars were lowering (I heard conjecture of a lost wheel even). Since she could not move her car, she made the reasonable choice of evacuating the vehicle, after which the train hit the back of the car. Although there was quite a mess, the train was evacuated and all other transport on or near the tracks was halted, the accident seemed not to leave any major injuries (I would guess at most a possible concussion of a passenger on the train). Emergency responders came quickly and did their jobs, showing the effectiveness of our city's safety procedures. I do not feel like this is reason to blame the city, Caltrain, or even the driver.

@ Omar Chatty: Again...really, for the safety of our kids, these millions of deadly, barreling thousand pound cars must be replaced and the corridor unified with the rest of safer, more frequent, grade-separated Bay Area bike commutes by killing these auto-kill-mobiles while phasing in BART down the Peninsula to join BART's future destination at Santa Clara University (over the next, say, 10 years...while cars will still be killing hundreds of people a month. Uncounted numbers of people already dead this year. Why do we and the Democrat monopoly of elected officials tolerate these dangerous cars in our every densifying Peninsula communities?

It is RIDIULOUS to maintain these deadly, outdated 1886 automobile killing (and accident prone) in Silicon Valley!!!!!!

Actually There,

I was on the train. No way anyone on the train got hurt. We heard a thump and that was it. And I was in the second car behind the engine.

Hey Omar, you do realize that most of the people hit by the trains are suicides, right? Further, how many people would be killed if they shut down Caltrain and the thousands of passengers started driving? Go put on your foil hat and smoke some more weed.

The safer you make society, the dumber people will become. I know that it sounds harsh, but a basic reality in nature is that culling is a necessary and beneficial thing. For every species, culling removes the weak, the stupid, and the unlucky.

Since we have obliterated all of our natural enemies in the animal kingdom, Caltrain fills a critically necessary and important role similar to the role of the carnage that is imposed upon us by the ubiquitous automobile. It is these life challenges and dangers that keep us morally, physically, and mentally fit as a species.

Focus on raising up the children of our community into good, strong adult men and women who can successfully avoid the dangers of life. Focus on raising your children up so that they live with a sense of purpose and connection with community so that they do not want to take their own life, either by a conscious act or by living recklessly.

@ Omar Chatty LOL perhaps we should also ban cars. Heck, while we're at it, let's ban all moving objects. Better yet we can all just stay inside our homes for fear of the possibility that we won't be able avoid fast moving objects.

Oh wait, that's only a problem for complete morons. Please, for the sake of humanity go play around some train tracks.

"The safer you make society, the dumber people will become. I know that it sounds harsh, but a basic reality in nature is that culling is a necessary and beneficial thing. For every species, culling removes the weak, the stupid, and the unlucky."

Was the motorcyclist you killed weak, stupid or unlucky?

What do you mean by no one in the car? Was the car abandoned when someone realized the train was coming? or was that a Google car , driver less and passenger less?

Really people...
It's a train. On Tracks. It cannot chase down "victims". Don't want to tangle with a train? Stay off the tracks. That's all it takes.
If your car cannot traverse a RR crossing without falling apart, may it's not safe for anywhere else either.
We've had fatalities along all RR tracks since there have been RR tracks. Why? Two unewhelming reasons; suicides and palying the "beat the train" game. Whatever th odds, the train always wins either.

Touche, BvP; I accept your real point. But I will also answer your question. Weakness was not a factor. Stupidity was only a minor factor in that he died from head injury that he probably would not have gotten had he been wearing a helmet. But back then, in 1971, there was no helmet law and many people, including me, rode without a helmet.

99% of it was that he was unlucky; he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, just like that 81 year old woman who was killed while walking on the sidewalk on Rengstorff, or that man who was killed while waiting at a bus stop shelter on California.

Life is supposed to be dangerous. We can work together to remove some of the hazards. But the main job of government is not to make the people safe; it is to keep the people FREE. Our main job as adults is to raise up the children into good, strong adult men and women who have so much to live for that they won't ever consider suicide and they won't live stupidly or recklessly.

The excessive focus in the United States on safety reflects the cowardly selfishness of the people.

DO NOT FEAR THAT YOU WILL DIE. FEAR THAT YOU MIGHT NEVER LIVE!

Omar should get his facts straight....and learn to spell!

Bill, perfect spelling doesn't matter. Being friendly and respectful matters a lot. As a contributor to this conversation and to building community, Omar gets an A+ and your last post gets an D.

I'm jumping on you for this because your post just happened to be the millionth post to this forum that makes a personal attack on another poster. The personal attacks that are so common here indicate a lack of self esteem, which in turn is a consequence of living selfishly.

I invite you to converse with me privately about living unselfishly. If you take that path, you will no longer feel any need to put down other people.

It's not all that hard to get stuck right on the tracks if you don't leave yourself space when you're headed towards El Camino...people turning left right after the tracks, people (constantly) jaywalking from/to the grocery store, and even the crosswalks further down all contribute to sudden stops and backed up cars at that intersection

Another incident of another idiotic driver NOT paying attention. There is NO WAY in hell the railroad is at fault. EVER !

@ Omar Chatty, you say AGAIN? I've been commuting on the peninsula for 27 years. It frustrates me when I'm late for work because a train made contact with someone who doesn't know what, "LOOK, LISTEN AND LIVE" means! You talk about children? What about the kids who play "chicken" with trains and lose? Oh, it must be Amtrak or Caltrain's fault, huh? There will always be idiots who don't obey the rules!

Stop calling people dumb. Lets be civil and stop the name calling!

the car was just fixed by the body shop the insurance co. recommended,after 2 months,this thing happened ,same part of the car messed up,its not the fault of the driver,the car stop bec.the wheel came off

No. This "accident" is in the idiotic stupid category. The whole community should chime in, in unison, one thousand voices singing, "Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest!" All of the people who know the driver should devote an entire week to driving the stupidity of this incident home to the individual.

While we are on the subject, we should do the same thing for the 400 pound individuals that fill the booths at McDonalds and Krispy Kreme. Walk up to each of them and say something like, "You are soooooo butt ugly fat! Can I buy you a dozen doughnuts? How about twenty orders of grease sponges (french fries)? Do you have no self discipline at all? Fat-so, fat-so, fat-so!" Etc.

Being mean saves lives. Save a life today. Find someone who lives stupidly, and say something really mean!

Now, I don't really want anyone to go off and do that. You might cause them to commit suicide. I am trying to make a point. If people who did stupid things, and we all do stupid things once in a while, if the community responded to stupidity by inflicting emotional pain, then the people who do stupid things routinely would quickly learn that stupidity does not pay. Obscenely obese people would think twice about entering a Krispy Kreme establishment. Drivers who do not think ahead and who just pull up onto railroad tracks behind a stopped car would start to THINK, just to avoid the painful ridicule that they see is the consequence of stupidity.

Behavior that is harmful to the individual and/or to the community should be ridiculed mercilessly. It would save lives. It would reduce health care costs. It would, paradoxically, make the lives of many targeted people less miserable by giving them the community guidance that they need to make optimal decisions for themselves.

Dumb. Making excuses for the driver. Dumber. Arguing that somehow the driver is not responsible for the mechanical condition of the 2000 pounds of heavy equipment that he or she operates in close proximity to hundreds of people per mile of travel. Dumbest.

It's time to stop telling people what they want to hear. We need to start telling people what they NEED to hear. If you operate a motor vehicle on a public highway, you are responsible for the mechanical condition of that vehicle. Period.

That wheel was almost certainly wobbling and making lots of noise, and was being driven on for miles and miles before the five lug bolts finally gave way. They didn't break all at the same time. This driver was almost certainly negligent and/or incompetent.

"Behavior that is harmful to the individual and/or to the community should be ridiculed mercilessly."

Yes, but on an internet forum, we need to be civil and respectful.

"That wheel was almost certainly wobbling and making lots of noise, and was being driven on for miles and miles before the five lug bolts finally gave way. They didn't break all at the same time. This driver was almost certainly negligent and/or incompetent."

Unless you know something that the rest of us don't, it's pure speculation to justify your desire to be a [Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language] Go on, give us the facts. [Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]

You rail against government's involvement in people's lives, because YOU want to be the one to dictate what people should and should not do. You constantly aim to insert yourself into the lives of people in Mtn. View. Truth be told, I'm very happy that the MVPD as well as the city and district attorneys are trying to shut you up. People like you are a danger to the community. [Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]

I am a civic speaker. My goal is to break the thought steering monopoly that the media enjoys and stimulate a revival of the vigorous and respectful civic conversation that is required for our system of self government to work. IMO, historic political and cultural decisions are being made that will have no legitimacy and that will place the United States in grave danger because the population no longer possesses the moral and intellectual character that is requuired. The media has far too great an influence on which topics you think about and on which viewpoints are available for your consideration on each topic.

I am a teacher, a professor. Everything that I do is speech. In this conversation, I am attempting to introduce a new idea. The idea is that various confrontational behaviors that we conventionally view as expressions of hate might actually have a beneficial and legitimate role to play in society in that these behaviors actually BENEFIT the individuals and groups that are targeted.

I don't want anyone to go off and start ridiculing fat people or drivers who have particularly idiotic collisions. I just want to invite you to think about whether "be nice to everyone always" is really the best policy. Perhaps there should be much more tough love, much more rebuking, much more ridiculing, and even much more hate!