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A man was struck and killed by a Red Line train at the Forest Glen station at just after 4:15 p.m. today. The man was struck by an eight-car train heading in the direction of Shady Grove. Preliminary reports indicate that the individual intentionally put himself on the track. Trains are currently single tracking between Forest Glen and Silver Spring. Given this incident's timing with the rush hour and the continued slowdown on the Red Line in the wake of last week's deadly crash, customers are being told to expect lengthy delays. That seems like an understatement.
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We went to the Macy's at 12th & G this morning for the Black Friday morning specials. There was a sh
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ohhhh boy
i've had enough!
If he weren't already dead...
*cry* I can't take this anymore.
he had to choose the red line?!
maybe he couldnt take the delays anymore?
Two bad thoughts:
1. Dude, just b/c you've got problems please don't mess with the regular joe's commute...jump infront of a BMW or Mercedes or something.
2. Better that it was on the red line than another line...it's going to be slow anyways.
I said it, you're just thinking it.
or a hummer, those piles of crap piss me off.
I'm fairly new to subway life: does this happen in New York also? I'm baffled by the number of suicides-by-metro in DC...
I've heard that it's the number one way to commit suicide in Paris.
Yes
It doesn't happen as often in NY, at least it didn't when I lived there. I guess people in NY just have better lives.
Or, if true, another possible explanation is that the stench of urine, funk and mold lulls even the most self-destructive individuals into a placid state.
why couldn't he have picked on the orange line?
why couldn't he have picked on the orange line?
Similar things happen in the New York subway system, where suicide is a regular hazard, more common than in most major cities. Disturbingly, however, the New York Transit Authority does not release any suicide figures, and most cases of subway suicide fail to make the news.
Similar things happen in the New York subway system, where suicide is a regular hazard, more common than in most major cities. Disturbingly, however, the New York Transit Authority does not release any suicide figures, and most cases of subway suicide fail to make the news.
Hmmmmm!?
It would be nice if Metro could start install walls with gates running the length of the platform (as has been done on certain lines of the London Underground) which only open when the train has pulled up to the platform.
It would be nice, certainly, but with the money shortages on Metro and the need for train car safety first, I don't think this is realistic.
No!
The Red Line is cursed. I'm going drinking until further notice.
Pour me one, please.
Poor me! Poor me! Pour me a drink!
hell yes...what else is there to do in times like these?
I think the next time this happens we should have an impromptu DCist happy hour. Because you're right - it's the only thing to do in these situations.
I promise -- next time there is a new disruption on the #$$% Red Line, I will find a bar that is centrally located where we can all meet and booze it up. It's for our own safety.
Drinks on me.
Enough with metro-self-offing!
I thought this was why the baby jeezus gave us the Duke Ellington Bridge, fer godsakes...
Not only does it happen a lot in NYC, subway workers are killed pretty frequently, and that seems to be a rare occurrence here in DC. Then again, subway system's much bigger in NYC.
WMATA should considering the installation of suicide booths on platforms.
Pros:
1. Reduces jumpers.
2. New revenue stream
Cons:
NONE!
As for what to title the powerpoint presentation at the board meeting - "Killing two birds with one stone."
WMATA should considering the installation of suicide booths on platforms.
Pros:
1. Reduces jumpers.
2. New revenue stream
Cons:
NONE!
As for what to title the powerpoint presentation at the board meeting - "Killing two birds with one stone."
If they turn out anything like the farecard machines, we'll spend so much time waiting in line behind tourists who can't figure out how to use them that most of us will just give up and go to work.
When I was in college in Philadelphia people would routinely jump in front of subway and el cars. Both are multiple track systems so backups weren't as bad. Only the station where the jumper acted was directly affected once the EMTs cleared the body off of the tracks.
I think that New York system is similar with multiple tracks so you would not notice the delays as much once the trains are diverted around the scene. Another reason to design your system with at least a third set of tracks.
You've got to admit the suicide options in DC suck. Guns are still basically illegal (good luck getting through the count-the-number-of-jellybeans-in-the-bowl MPD registration process). Buildings tall enough to achieve terminal velocity are illegal. Few people have garages that they could conveniently fill with monoxide-laden exhaust. What's left? It's pretty much razor blades, David Carradine, natural gas, or Metro. Of those options, Metro definitely would be my choice.
Tasteless, yet funny
Funnier still to think that someone who's wanting to kill themselves (or others) would worry about the legality of gun ownership/registration. It's a bit like Al Capone worrying about taxes. Oh, wait...
Don't forget swimming in the Potomac, trawling for trannies, eating jumbo slice on a regular basis, and wearing a Cowboys jersey within 10 miles of Fedex Field. All these will get the job done eventually.
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
-- Dorothy Parker
why is Metro the only system not to be built with multiple tracks? it seems like such an obvious design flaw.
It wasn't a design flaw. It was a funding flaw. When they built the system, they couldn't afford the redundancy so no extra tracks. No express lines. No way to bypass broken down cars.
It's not the only one. Atlanta, San Francisco, and Baltimore (if you can call it a true subway...) come to mind as other examples.
That's actually the better journalistic practice. Suicides are "contagious"--reporting on them, or on methods in any detail, can affect rates and method choices of people in the coverage area. That sounds farfetched to a lot of people, but that's because some ideas about suicide, like "they would have done it anyway," are myths. It's almost always a crime of opportunity.
(Hence the battle in San Fran about installing suicide barriers on the Golden Gate Bridge. When reportage of those types of suicides went down, fewer people jumped, but it's still a huge problem. Google for an article about golden gate suicides in the New Yorker, it's a great read.)
By sticking to the facts, as Sommer did (she didn't say "suicide"), DCist follows the guidelines for preventing contagion pretty well. You can Google for them too (posting links gets my comments dinged).
Suicide is not a crime, dingus.
Suicide is not a crime, dingus.
Knew what I meant though, didn't you? Suicide is many things and one of them is a violent act. It has victims.
There's no need for name-calling. I'm not some asshole making simplistic moral judgments of suffering people. I'm an academic who studies mood disorders, I've lost more than one family member to it, and if I know anything from my book-learnin' and my experiences, I know that choices and motives and agency aren't always as simple as they seem to people from the outside.