In relation with the other day’s post about the ponctuality of belgian train. Locomotive braking distance on simulated suicide.

3 comments

1. Is he ok?

2. tldr a type 1 is a traumatic event for everyone involved

   A few years ago I was in a commuter train that ran someone over. I was in the front carriage.

   I can still hear/feel the body slamming up against the bottom of the carriage, not once but several times. Surprisingly forceful for something that could not have weighed much more than 80 kg. It must have had tons of kinetic energy.

   Another thing I remember is the tranebeglader’s face when they came out of the driver’s boot. It was as pale gray as their uniform jacket. He had to get out and officially attest what everyone already knew had happened.

   Evacuation started after a couple of hours and went relatively well, a few communication problems notwithstanding. I was driven to the railway station in an ambulance as a passenger, not a patient.

   Last thing I remember was the trail of shrines of different sizes behind the train. It looked like a camping site for William Boevas: the track and its bedding were dotted with small white tents differing in size and distance. Most people looked away when they passed, out of respect because there wasn’t really anything to see – the clean up crew had made sure of that. It took a while to sink in that each of those tens of little tents contained the remains of one and the same person.

   In my then professional capacity I had read tons of autopsy reports about railcar-assisted suicides, but this was the first time I was at the scene of one myself.

   If you’re stuck in a stopped train one day because of a suicide or someone being run over, and you’re upset about the delay, spare a thought for the train staff and the emergency service workers who have to deal with the aftermath of the cause of your delay.

3. If my job ever pulls a stunt like that on a simulator run, I’m walking out and going on sick leave.

   You don’t do simulated suicides on a simulator, that’s a surefire way to drag up trauma that doesn’t need to be drug up. It’s just blatantly disrespectful towards drivers who have been involved in a fatal collision with a person who don’t want to be reminded of it during regular training exercises, which is the majority of them. The chances of a train driver finishing a full career without hitting a person is near zero so it’s a subject that needs to be treated carefully.

   It is an absolutely awful an terrifying feeling to be barreling towards a person, knowing there is nothing you can do to prevent them from being crushed under your train and I’m speaking from experience on that.

   Edit: Added some thoughts that I forgot because I was angry about simulated suicides on a simulator run.