Texas Woman in Midst of Modeling Shoot When Struck by Train

I know that taking photos on train tracks is a common, albeit hackneyed, idea, but be careful, people!

http://abc13.com …-struck-by-train/1801753/

A lot of people still refuse to accept the fact that it can be darned hard to realize that a train is bearing down on you in time to get away.

Trains outside of city areas are moving at highway speeds--they're moving fast.

Most of the noise of a train is generated by its wheels on the tracks. A bit (fairly small) is generated by the engine. The track noise is directed to the sides, the engine noise is directed to the rear. We are accustomed to hearing a train from the side and think that we'd hear as much noise from the front. Wrong. Very little noise is directed toward the front.

As well, the visual print of an oncoming train is also very small, and the headlight can be hard to see if there is the slightest curve that points the center of the beam away from you.

The bottom line is that all these occurrences should illustrate that realizing a train is coming clearly has a trick to it.

Quite frankly it beggars belief that anyone in their right mind would think that it is OK to stand on a live running line to do a photo-shoot. That story is a prime example of why you should not stand on a railway line. Apparently she moved out of the way of a train heading one way along the tracks and got hit by another train going in the opposite direction. The mind boggles at the incredulous stupidity of these people.

And let’s not forget that it is not just her family and friends that are affected by the aftermath of her wanton selfish behaviour, but the train driver will be left traumatised. Then there are the Police and Ambulance crews that have to attend the scene and recover the body. Finally there is the ground-crew that has to clean up the engine and wagons after the incident. For those people reading this that have never had the pleasure of pulling the remnants of a human body from the underside of a train you should try it sometime it might make you think twice before venturing onto a live railway.

So sad for the people involved, but no talk of the liability the photographer faces. The responsibility/blame lies with that person as well. Are criminal charges possible? Trespassing charges? I've shot on train tracks before, but only because I knew they were deactivated and hadn't been used in years and in the middle of the city.

I feel for all involved, but since this is a photography forum I thought I'd solicit info on what role we play when something like this happens.

I would think at the very least reckless endangerment.

In the "Midnight Rider" train fatality case, a producer and director were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing.

https://en.wikipedia.o​rg/wiki/Midnight_Rider​_(film)

edit: The parenthesis in the URL messes up the link, I don't know how to fix it, but if you click it Wikipedia will show you the correct link.

Sad story.


In this case, as I understand from what I read, the idea and decision to do the shoot were the Models. She was looking to get the shots. But no idea how that effects any of it from a legal standpoint. It is not however the same as your boss telling you top get out on the train tracks..

I would think a civil suite is much more likely than a criminal charge more serious than trespassing. Texas is a contributory negligence state so the court would need to decide what percentage of fault lies with the photographer. Being a professional the proprietor is expected to know what laws apply to their business.

If this was simply a friend taking photos the expectation would be that of a normal person or in my opinion maybe 50/50. But if the photographer is a well paid established business owner it should be assumed he knows he is trespassing and would thus bear a high percentage of the blame.

Either way, the best thing we can take from this is stay off the tracks.

Nogo wrote in post #18306121
Being a professional the proprietor is expected to know what laws apply to their business.

I would question whether the individual was professional or just a "I got a camera professional"

Very sad story, yet not uncommon...

http://www.up.com …fie-tragedy-12-7-2016.htm

http://www.mirror.co.u​k …n-mum-girl-killed-6669646

https://www.yahoo.com …death-very-060038930.html

OMG, this is brutal..

http://www.up.com …fie-tragedy-12-7-2016.htm

Tragic but, ultimately, dumb and completely unavoidable. Train tracks and their right of way are private property and not any place that you belong without consent and coordination from the railways.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18306209
OMG, this is brutal..

I can't think of a better response............

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18306209
OMG, this is brutal..

This belonged to a 14 year old boy who played chicken with a train.

When there are double And triple train tracks its easier than you think to not see or hear another train.