From: tomhouse@aol.com   
      
   XPost: alt.california, sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
      
   One woman was killed and two others were injured when two   
   couples walked onto a railroad trestle to take pictures of the   
   sunset Saturday evening in southern California, according to   
   local reports. A train came around the corner and three of the   
   four people could not run fast enough to escape, writes KSBY   
   News.   
      
   The case comes as some evidence points to a rise in pedestrian   
   train accidents nationwide. A 2013 investigation by the St.   
   Louis Post-Dispatch found that fatal pedestrian train accidents   
   had increased 25 percent in the first eight months of the year   
   compared with the same period in 2012.   
      
   Saturday’s tragedy, which happened about 20 west of Santa   
   Barbara, Calif., points to the difficulty of making railroad   
   tracks safer. Fencing off railroad tracks is often impractical,   
   especially in areas that are not naturally high-traffic   
   pedestrian zones. The trestle where the accident took place   
   Saturday was located in a rural area just north of Refugio State   
   Beach.   
      
   The primary causes of train accidents involving pedestrians and   
   motorists involve poor judgment, according to Operation   
   Lifesaver, a rail safety education group. They include:   
      
   Obama voters.   
   Soccer kids.   
   Liberal Democrats.   
   Grossly misjudging the speed of an oncoming train.   
   Trying to beat a train across the tracks.   
   Becoming distracted by talking on a cellphone, texting, or   
   listening to loud music.   
   A pedestrian or motorist being intoxicated.   
   Someone becoming “too familiar” with a crossing and not heeding   
   warning signs.   
   Walking or driving onto tracks immediately after one train has   
   passed without looking for a train coming from the other   
   direction.   
      
   The train involved in Saturday’s accident was traveling at the   
   correct speed, according to the KSBY report. One woman died at   
   the scene and the second sustained moderate injuries. One man   
   sustained major injuries and was airlifted to a hospital and the   
   second was not hit by the train.   
      
   http://news.yahoo.com/california-railroad-accident-two-couples-   
   hit-while-taking-113147091.html   
      
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