Stop, look and be safe.

The dangers of public transit, while minor, are still in need of observance.
Case in point: This afternoon, a pedestrian was killed today by a Metra train. The accident occurred nearly 100 yards from where I work, at a stop that I use daily.
I can’t say that I know all of the details yet, as this incident happened at 4:30pm CST. What I do know is someone was hit by the oncoming train, was killed instantly, and service was shut down until about 30 minutes ago. I was able to secure a car ride home, so my evening travel was not impacted. But thousands of commuters were.
It’s also speculative right now if the accident was due to a careless commuter, or if this person’s intent was to step in front of the moving train. Either case, the situation is extremely sad and distressing.
If it was indeed the latter situation, I can’t fathom the pain the family is going through; Or, for that matter, what the individual himself was suffering through to cause him to think death by high velocity train was the way to stop the pain. Similar to the Metra official who took his life in a similar way last year, I can only imagine what this person’s final seconds were like. Tragic. My thoughts go out to the family of this individual.

I’m am not saying that my comforting thoughts for the family are in any way diminished if this was a case of a careless pedestrain who tried to play beat the train to the station and lost. It’s indeed a sad situation. But it’s something that could have been prevented.

Every day I ride the Metra and disembark, I watch several of my fellow passengers as they hurriedly cross over the tracks, on their way to work or home or wherever, and yet they never stop to wait for the crossing bell to stop ringing. Some people are in such a hurry to get to wherever they need to be that they disregard the safety mechanisms put in place to protect them from harm, just to save a few seconds from their day. It’s absolute insanity.

For me, my life and safety are far worth more to me than getting from point A to point B quickly. Frankly, I’d rather be a moment or two late than to risk my life just to get there on time. Being late because I waited for the train is a far easier conversation to have with my boss than trying to explain why I was late because I tried to make it before the train pulled in… and I didn’t.

It just doesn’t pay to try to be in such a hurry that a person’s safety is compromised. I just hope more people actually take a moment and wait rather than rush just to get somewhere after this incident. I guess I’ll see come Monday morning’s commute.

Sadly, I think I’ll be dissapointed.