Man barely escapes being hit by train (with video)

Will Lerner
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

Caltrain, the train service that runs through San Francisco and San Jose in California, put up a video on YouTube last month that is now starting to gainattention in the press. In the video, you can see a man just barely avoid being hit by a speeding train. As KTVU Channel 2 news reports, it’s being shown to promote public safety.

For those unable to watch the video, at around the 1:02 mark, you can see three people scurry across a pedestrian path that goes right over a rail line. Then, at the 1:08 minute mark, a man jets across, and just barely makes it across before the train whizzes by. It is, undoubtedly, a stupid and reckless move. If he had waited a few seconds, the train would have passed by and he wouldn’t have to risk life and limb to cross.

KGO ABC 7 News notes that trains can, “reach a top speed of 79 miles-per-hour and can cover the length of a football field in less than three seconds.” Obviously, being hit by a large metal object going 79 MPH is lethal, thirteen people were hit and killed last year, according to the station.

Peninsula Moves , which according to KTVU and other outlets is a Caltrain blog, wrote about the incident and gave some friendly advice to those living in the area, but they work for anyone who lives near a rail line. They write:

  • Look, Listen, Live!

  • Never go around the gates! The Gate Means Wait

  • Pay attention near tracks.

  • Watch out for a second train.

  • Expect a train on any track, at any time.


Related: Woman ducks back under railroad crossing arm and barely avoids speeding train (with video)

More info: KTVU,KGO, Peninsula Moves