sure as you can't stop a train

This whole area is criss-crossed with railroad tracks. We live half a block from one busy freight-rail line (trains come through about every two hours, 24 hours a day). I see people walking along the tracks or stopping their cars on the tracks all the damn time. According to this press release from last year, Florida is third in the nation in fatalities from people trespassing on the tracks. I'm not sure where that data comes from or how recent it is, but this site, with national data from 2004, ranks us as #4. Either way, it's clearly a problem here. (Edit: found some more recent stats - we're 5th in pedestrian trespass fatalities, 3rd in pedestrian trespass injuries as of 2006. Ooh, recent searchable data here, tho' not in a format that makes it easy to compare state-to-state.)

Driving home last night, I passed a sign declaring next week Train Safety Awareness Week.

Well, happy Train Safety Awareness Week, y'all. Ugh.

Anyway, it's great that there are organizations out there like Florida's Operation Lifesaver, but it's a shame their site is so badly coded and hasn't been updated since last year. I'd go out and volunteer with them next week, but I honestly don't think it'll make much difference. :/

.....