Author Topic: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018  (Read 11132 times)

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
« Last Edit: May 02, 2018, 05:40:39 PM by Editor »



Offline ericmartindale

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
  • Karma: -5
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2018, 02:55:50 AM »
This is at least the 4th pedestrian death along the NJ Transit line since these Hackensack community message boards were up and running. Folks, including myself, have repeatedly said that the city needs to install fencing comparable to what Ridgewood has in their downtown, to protect the residents, and keep people off of the tracks.  All that is needed is a simple chain link fence, 4 feet high, on both sides, from Temple Ave to Essex Street. There is no "right" to cross the tracks anywhere and everywhere. How many more people have to die before fencing is installed ?

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2018, 10:23:33 AM »
If I'm not mistaken, they entered the train's path at a controlled intersection.  How do you fence a controlled intersection apart from the automated gates that are there now?


Offline ericmartindale

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
  • Karma: -5
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2018, 07:56:04 PM »
The article indicates in two places that the accident did not occur at a street crossing

1. It says "near" the intersection of Terrace Place, not "at" the intersection

2. and then concludes with the following paragraph about respecting the right of away and crossing the tracks only at designated locations:  "Snyder said the incident serves as a reminder to stay off the tracks and to respect the right-of-way. She said that tracks should only be crossed at designated locations, never go around closed gates and that trains can't stop quickly."

You may have more information than the article.  Or the article could be wrong. We welcome further information.

Offline irons35

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 249
  • Karma: 16
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2018, 09:37:05 PM »

Al, you are correct

Offline ericmartindale

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
  • Karma: -5
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2018, 08:55:22 AM »
WRONG ANSWER GUYS !!!!  I just spoke with staff at the Fairmount Eats Diner. They detailed the gruesome scene. The couple was hit standing on the tracks about 30 or 40 feet south of the intersection, and hit by a northbound train.  The waitress pointed to a "one way" sign along Terrace Place as the exact spot.  One body was thrown to the intersection of Main Street, and the other was left at the spot.

You guys can circle the wagons all you want, but the facts are the facts. So, this accident IS an example of the tracks needing fencing.  The city government needs to start talks with NJ Transit and figure out how fencing can be built. It's not acceptable that the citizens of Ridgewood get protection with fences, but NJ Transit leaves the tracks wide open through the heart of Hackensack.  And the death count is mounting.  Ultimately this is the fault of NJ Transit, but they aren't going to do anything unless the City of Hackensack makes it an issue. And the city has been unacceptably silent.

I think this can be done in coordination with a beautification project. The fences can be set as close to the tracks as feasible, and the area between the fence and street curbs can be either grassy or some evergreen shrubs and trees, or some combination.  I remember the initiative of Anthony Zisa, then chair of the Shade Tree Commission, to beautify the railroad corridor a bit to the south.  And it was torpedoed by engineering study costs.

Maybe start with the section from Temple Ave to Euclid Ave.

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2018, 10:47:46 PM »
Here are the prior discussions on this if anyone is interested:

http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,1683.msg5269.html#msg5269 (started in 2010)

http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,2563.msg7728.html#msg7728 (started in 2012)

Looking back, my thinking hasn't changed much.  I have no objection to a fence but I question its effectiveness. However, if the account above is accurate, a fence would have likely prevented this tragedy.

But then my questions are: Couldn't this have just as easily been a bus on the street? Why are we necessarily treating trains differently? Since 2010, there have been 4 deaths in Hackensack by train, including the latest 2. There have been at least as many killed by cars, probably more. (See http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php?topic=3413.0). What infrastructure would need to be erected to prevent vehicular/pedestrian deaths? Will people eventually begin to think that they are allowed to walk wherever they don't see a fence, even when other obvious warnings are present? Where does it end? At what cost?

For me, the better solution is personal accountability. Without it, we can't erect enough fencing. Ever.

« Last Edit: May 10, 2018, 11:42:20 PM by Editor »

Offline ericmartindale

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
  • Karma: -5
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2018, 02:11:19 AM »
Editor, your argument is like saying there's no reason to ban assault weapons because far more people kill other people with handguns and knives.

Offline ericmartindale

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
  • Karma: -5
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2018, 07:04:54 AM »
Or there's a better example.  Saying that train deaths don't matter because more people are killed by cars and buses is like saying Black Lives Don't Matter because so many more people are killed in Black-on-Black violence in the inner city than are shot and killed by police.

In 2010, 12 year old Caeser Muloki was struck and killed by a train near Clay Street and Central Ave. He would be about 20 years today.  I say his life matters. I think his family members agree with me. He would be alive today if the railroad was fenced off in that neighborhood. His death was not a smug "Survival of the Fittest" example proving that Charles Darwin was correct; it was an example that the railroad needs to be fenced. And had it been fenced, there would not have been 2 deaths a week or two ago.

And same for these two people killed so recently near the Main Street railroad crossing. Their lives matter. The railroad needs to be secured. We need it for safety, we need it for landscaping and aesthetics. Hackensack needs it to be a community that cares.

Offline Homer Jones

  • Long-time poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 622
  • Karma: 16
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2018, 05:28:55 PM »
Isn’t there such a thing as accountability? Aren’t people supposed to be accountable for their own actions?
These two people were mature adults who chose to cross the tracks where they did. They made a choice where to cross and they paid the ultimate price. I remember a case over thirty years ago where a young man was walking on the tracks carrying a boom box and he never heard the train.
There was another case at Anderson Street where an individual crossed the tracks in front of a stopped train and then crossed the tracks again as the train had started moving. This person was an adult also.
Government puts up stop signs and drivers run the stop signs. Government puts up traffic lights and drivers run the lights.
Government can only do so much. Sadly some people make the wrong choice and have to be held accountable even if done posthumously.

Offline ericmartindale

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
  • Karma: -5
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2018, 04:20:14 AM »
Homer, an explanation of social darwinism is not the answer here.  I suppose you are also against helmet laws for motorcyclists. And do you have no problem with all the chemicals and hormones, herbicides, and pesticides in our food.  There are aspects of libertarianism that I agree with. Lots, actually.  But the drift towards social darwinism is dangerous.

Offline Editor

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 4430
  • Karma: 17
    • View Profile
    • Hackensack Now
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2018, 08:45:57 AM »
Eric, then make drinking, smoking and high cholesterol foods illegal. Reduce the speed limit from 65 to 45. You'll save countless lives. Where does it end?

Offline itsamike

  • HackensackNow Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 24
  • Karma: 1
  • Hackensack Now Patron
    • View Profile
Re: Pascack Valley Line Train Accident, May 2, 2018
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2018, 09:56:39 AM »

 

anything