Attempt to beat train in Michigan ends 5 young lives

There are no grade crossings on the Acela route, in theory a new high speed rail network if building from the ground up instead of ontop of existing infrastructure wouldn't have grade crossings.

Very tragic but this is what happens when people make bad choices based on stupidity. It may not prevent much, but still parents always need to try and hammer into thier childrens heads that with every choice there will always be consequences. My parents taught me before I ever got behind the wheel that a car can either be your tool or your coffin.

The danger of group-thinking (a process which encourages extremes of behavior) is especially strong for teenagers, in which it tends to produce needless recklessness. The process is unconcious, but it has at its root the same pyschological phenomenon that produces mob violence, political extremism, and collective enthusiasm at sporting events. We are strange machines.

Sorry, Bulmer, but trying to beat a train and dying for it is pretty 'reckless' in my books.

What a horrible thing to happen. It's an awful thing when the stupidity of kids results in death, and in this case the death of five kids. My condolences to the families... this is a terrible loss.

Molenir,

That story out of Michigan made front page news (or highlighted news) in many media outlets including CNN... (which is likely where JT picked it up)

I thought that this kind of story would have stayed just in the Detroit Free Press, but it was on LA Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC News, etc...

The young and the reckless....

molenir,

There's lots of Americans in Japan. And lot's of 'em use this forum.

What amazes me, is that what is in reality a local story, makes headlines in Japan. No where else in the world is this story being reported like this. So while its very tragic, its actually rather amusing when considering how and where its being reported.

"Sounds reckless to me"

Too right....

It's always the same a$sholes that kid themselves into thinking they're formula one pilots that cause mayhem on the roads....it's just a real shame they usually take others with them.

And in a Ford Fusion to boot.

“Not a reckless driver,” Bulmer said. “He just didn’t think all the time.”

Sounds reckless to me. Pity he had to take four others with him.

pawatan at 01:12 PM JST - 11th July Kids do really stupid things. I know we did really dumb things while driving in high school. How horrible it cost these kids their lives.

True but there is a very big difference between stupid and dead. They my friends are dead......Sorry for the families loss....

The driver was 19. He was a teen in name only. He was certainily no kid. If you do not know better than wait for the train to pass at 19, you won't be any different at 29. He already had a number of traffic violations too. I would say he was a world class idiot. His age is not amounting to an excuse of any kind.

Kids do really stupid things. I know we did really dumb things while driving in high school. How horrible it cost these kids their lives.

There really should be close to zero tolerance for teens who are bad drivers. They don't have the common sense an older person has.

This is a really sad story on a lot of levels.

I can't even imagine the "what ifs" that must be running through those parents' minds.

Taka

Jeeze....a split second bad decision ends 5 lives....

Darwinian event.....

Also a good example why high-speed rail won't work in the US with the currently existing rail network. These kind of accidents happen all the time. Imagine what would have happened if the train was an Acela type.

When I read stories like this I wonder how many times we took stupid risks and were fortunate enough to live long enough to stop doing those stupid things. All they needed was one or two seconds more and they too would have been fortunate enough to get home.

Tragic, but that is what you get when stupidity gets behind the wheel.

The video was horrific. This is so sad. < :-)