Updated Forecast: In Excess of 8" of Snow, Plus Wind
And Now, 10-20 Inches
Federal Govt. Closed Tuesday
Snowmaggedon 1.0 in Time Lapse
The Red Line is a total mess this morning after a man died after being struck by a train at the Gallery Place-Chinatown station around 8 a.m. this morning. Metro reports that the man placed himself on the tracks intentionally. There is no Red Line service moving through bothe Gallery Place and Metro Center -- Metro is operating shuttle buses between Farragut North and Judiciary Square while police conduct an investigation. Service on other lines at Metro Center and Gallery Place has not been affected. While Sunday is usually the slowest day of the week for Metro, today was already chock full of delays for track maintenance -- those of you taking the Red Line anywhere this morning would be wise to factor in quite a bit of extra time to get to your destination. UPDATE: As of 11:11 a.m., Metro reports that regular Red Line service has been restored to both stations.
Red Line Service Disrupted At Gallery Place And Metro Center After Man Struck By Train
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http://www.aolnews.com/2010/02/09/washington-shuts-down-as-another-snowstor
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am i the only one who thinks the phrase "placed himself on the tracks" sounds weird?
i mean, i get a mental picture of someone somehow lifting themselves in the air by reaching their own hand behind their back and picking themselves up by the scruff of their neck, then gingerly laying themselves down on the tracks.
i know it would be crass, but wouldn't it be more accurate to say the guy "jumped in front of the train"?
"Placed himself on the tracks" is probably the lawyer-approved, hypo-allergenic phrase their PR checklist tells them to use.
"Committed suicide by jumping in front of a train" would be an open invitation for a slander lawsuit by the relatives of the dearly departed patron.
And, of course, by even *saying* the word suicide in a media report, you are setting the stage for copycats (one of those surprising fun facts that's actually backed up by scientific research). So, Metro also has a "public health" rationale to fall back on for its Orwellian wording.
I have the image in my head of a giant animated hand, sort of like that N64 game "Glover" that does just as you've depicted--creepy! Gotta watch out for those flying hands!
Ahhhhh! I get it. If I place my temple up against the barrel of a gun and pull the trigger I did not commit suicide. Therefore my life insurance policy is still good and all. Just a hypothetical folks! Don't get your panties in a wad. I'm fine. Fine fine!!
Not to encourage suicide or anything, but I think most life insurance policies are written so that they DO pay off for suicides, as long as the suicide was more than a couple years after the policy was issued.
I think if the train-striking deaths don't stop soon Metro is going to have to look at installing some kind of automated gate system (like you'd find at an amusement park) to keep people from being struck so often... what are we at like 3 or 4 this month? 2 just this week?! What kinda show are we running here?! Jeez...
I agree. However, each time I bring up that point, I get shot down. Subway sistems in other major cities went ahead and implemented those types of gates. I still think it's worth looking at here.
Are there any statistics on how many people commit suicide on various train systems around the country? I feel like this has been a too-frequent occurrence on the Washington Metro...
In Japan, if you commit suicide by train, your family is liable for the lost revenue and clean up costs.
It's high time WMATA acknowledges this spree of suicides and FUCKING DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Systems that do this are generally fully automated - this ensures that the train will pull to the exact same mark every time (hard for human operators to do). Since Metro will be running in manual mode for the foreseeable future, might be hard to implement.
Oops - that was meant to be a reply to mlswanso.
Yes, it's not practical for the immidiate future, but it's something to work towards.
I can't imagine any of the unions being too thrilled about a fully automated Metro system.