Selfie Tragedy Forever Impacts Those Left Behind

[mahatmakanejeeves]

This is from a Union Pacific Railroad press release.

Full disclosure: I own shares of Union Pacific. I am posting this because I am getting tired of reading about people putting themselves in such risky positions.

The @ sign in the photos' links means the original photos won't open at DU. You'll have to cut and paste to see them.

I ran the pictures through https://postimage.org/ to put them in a form that will show up here.

SAFETY 12•08•2016

Selfie Tragedy Forever Impacts Those Left Behind

http://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/@uprr/documents/digitalmedia/img_up_instrk-selfie-final_mr.jpg



Kelsea Webster, 15, Essa Ricker, 15, and Savannah Webster, 13, did not hear the horn blasting as the approaching train's headlights created a halo in their final selfie.

Essa Ricker and Kelsea Webster, both 15, and Kelsea’s little sister, Savannah, waved at a westbound train crew and squeezed in for a selfie as it rolled through Utah’s scenic Spanish Fork Canyon October 2011. ... "Standing right by a train ahaha this is awesome!!!!" posted Savannah on Facebook as the train's steel wheels banged along the track's steel rail.

The excitement in the trio's eyes matched their big smiles as the train fanned their blonde hair in the wind while they posed for the selfie—completely unaware of the approaching train coming from the other direction. The train's headlights were visible on the top right side of the photo. ... "They were in their own little world," recalled John Anderson, train conductor inside the eastbound Union Pacific train locomotive. Engineer Michael Anderson, no relation to John, blasted the train horn to get the girls' attention. No response. Not even a flinch.

Trains traveling at 55 mph can take more than a mile to come to a complete stop after the emergency brakes are applied. A rush of panic, confusion and fear filled the locomotive as the train raced toward the girls at approximately 39 miles mph.


“We saw them for about 12 seconds until they disappeared from our sight and the train continued moving forward.”
— Conductor John Anderson

"We watched in horror as we got closer," said John, recalling how both he and Michael yelled as if it might stop what they knew was about to happen. "We saw them for about 12 seconds until they disappeared from our sight and the train continued moving forward." ... John raced back when the train finally stopped about a quarter mile down the track. The first girl he saw had no pulse and it was clear a second girl was no longer alive. John heard 13-year-old Savannah near the railroad crossing. She was hurt and agitated, but alive. ... "I told her everything would be OK and she relaxed a little," said John, who held Savannah's hand until paramedics arrived. "I hoped she would make it and for some reason I really thought she would."
....

http://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/@uprr/documents/digitalmedia/img_up_selfiesafety_crew.jpg



Conductor John Anderson and Engineer Michael Anderson desperately tried to get Kelsea, Essa and Savannah’s attention. They were unable to stop the train before hitting the teenagers.

[TexasBushwhacker]

1. There's no reason to think they didn't hear the horn

They chose to ignore it. Bad choice.

[Iggo]

3. One reason might easily be that they thought it was the horn on the train they were posing next to.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Right. Two tracks. Train going by on one does not mean that there cannot be

a train approaching on the other.

The rule book says (give or take): "Always expect a train; anytime, any track, any direction."

[Alex4Martinez]

2. Very sad, our culture has been conditioned to love cars, hate trains...

And this and other tragedies are used as ammunition against expanding clean and equitable rail transit.

Thanks for posting, and I hope you'll sign a local petition to save tracks for future use:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/749/754/291/

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. With all due respect, that's not what's happening here.

These were people so wrapped up in taking a picture of themselves standing next to a freight train going by on an adjacent track that they were unable to notice that a train was rapidly approaching on the track where they were standing.

This is about selfies, not petitions.

Thanks for writing.

[pinboy3niner]

6. I remember a mid-'80s study of train engineers traumatized by grade crossing accidents

The study found that those most susceptible to psychological trauma after being involved in these accidents were engineers who were Vietnam veterans, who had already been exposed to war trauma.

It's hard even hearing about tragic accidents like this...

[Sherman A1]

7. Tragic

That this happened, yet the lack of common sense on the part of these young ladies is the real culprit.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Those poor men will be haunted the rest of their lives....... n/t

[underpants]

9. I have a family member who's a retired conductor

I don't know the number but people did die in front of him. He has told me that its only a matter of time. It happens. Anyone who spends more than a few years on a train will have an incident. People make mistakes, cars breakdown, etc. He doesn't speak about it other than that. Yes he still thinks about all of them.

This is a really weird instance though.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. That's What I Thought, Too

And, just because NTSB rules, they still have to be investigated.

Next door neighbor's son committed suicide by laying down in on a train track where there is a dark curve. Had it well scoped out.


The engineer was suspended for a week pending investigation. He probably ended up getting his money, but he had to be investigated despite the fact that he didn't even know he hit anything. He was in St Louis or farther before they even knew the guy was dead.

[TrekLuver]

10. This is very sad...PERIOD. I grew up across the street from railroad tracks...they were practically

in my front yard. I grew up understanding the danger and respecting the trains/tracks. Even back then before the days of selfies or cell phones...there were always kids who messed around on the tracks. There were always people who took chances at the crossings. There were incidents constantly growing up.... I'm not sure this will ever be solved 100%.

[logosoco]

14. Same here.

A few years ago I saw that a young person was killed on the very same tracks we used to walk along. He was wearing headphones, something we did not really have back in the 70s like now. It was very sad to hear about this tragic death. Always, always be extra careful around train tracks!!

[RedWedge]

11. Most crews go through something like this. It's not if, but when.

Education and awareness is so important. Every one of these deaths is preventable by just staying off the fucking tracks.

[pinboy3niner]

12. As little kids, we'd put coins on the rails for trains to flatten

And we'd stand near the tracks shouting "Chalk" at a passing train and the crew would throw us some of the fat chalk they used to mark boxcars.

I don't remember walking the tracks much, and I have no idea if we really appreciated the danger. I did a lot of dumb things when I was young--and when I was older. Even adults have thoughtless moments--but they still don't deserve to die.

[smirkymonkey]

13. I might be missing something, but I just don't understand how you can not be aware that a train is

barrelling toward you, even if it is behind you. I would think the noise alone would be obvious from quite a distance. I take the train from Boston to Maine quite often and it's not exactly stealthy.

Anyway, very sad. RIP girls.

[MissB]

15. I read it as if there was one coming from the

other direction that they were aware of.

On edit: yes, they were taking a selfie as a train whizzed by next to them. They were unaware that another train was coming up behind them in the tracks they were standing on.

[smirkymonkey]

18. Oh, you are right. I think maybe I didn't understand that.

How tragic. It's just really, really sad. Poor girls.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. When being there isn't nearly as important as being SEEN to be there....

[Ilsa]

19. That reminds me of a scene from a new CBS show

about an outdoors journalist trying to learn how to work and survive in the youthful, digital world. He brought an actual adorable bear cub to work to show all these young adults what nature is like. Instead of interacting with the cub or petting it, they whipped out their phones and started videotaping it.