Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (61623)	8/3/2007 5:43:39 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 90947

They kill without warning. They claim our first light rail fatality ran a red light before he was hit. Who knows? The trains crash into a car roughly once every four days. And of course its always the car drivers fault. The train runs on the streets that cars drive on. Of course there are accidents - unlike the car traffic, the trains don't stop - well till they hit someone. I've driven down there a few times on the streets the tracks run on. You can be traveling along the street and the train can come up on you before you know it. And they're not kidding about the left turn lane at the north end of the med center. I've been there waiting for the light to change and suddenly you hear that damn train coming. By the time it arrived, the left turn light came on and the traffic cleared, but gee. Danger Train: Collision #88 (16) (1) (Photo via KPRC-2) Houston drivers and even a few pedestrians have done their best to take on the Danger Train. Last night, the Danger Train demonstrated that the dark side of the force is powerful indeed: A pickup driver was killed in downtown Houston late Tuesday when his vehicle was broadsided by a Metro light rail train, the first fatality on the rail line since it opened to the public in January 2004. The accident happened shortly before 10:30 p.m. on southbound Main at Jefferson. The driver, who was killed on impact, was believed to be a man in his 30s. He was the only person in the Dodge pickup truck, police said. [snip] The front of the train ripped through the driver's side door and pushed the pickup about 50 feet along the tracks. "The impact is right on the driver's door, which is kind of a weak part of the vehicle," said Sgt. G.T. Hall, with the Houston Police Department accident division. The pickup truck came to a rest against the Downtown Transit Center stop at Main and Jefferson. Police said four passengers on the train were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries. Eight other riders were not injured. Accident investigators confirmed that the train operator — who wasn't injured — likely would not be found at fault because the victim ran a red light and may have been speeding. " We're very confident that the fault lies with the deceased," Sgt. Hall said. One hopes that METRO police chief Lambert does not show up at the funeral and try to issue the poor man's estate a citation. The Chronicle's coverage includes this snippet near the end: Critics blame the record number of accidents on the system's at-grade rail design, with some nicknaming the $324 million MetroRail "The Danger Train." Questions also have been raised about confusing signage and traffic lights along the rail line. Additionally, MetroRail tracks share the left-turn lanes with motorists in the Texas Medical Center area. That's a pretty fair assessment of some of the design flaws, the sort of assessment we didn't always get from Lucas Wall. I can't imagine Lucas referring to the "Danger Train" in a story either. Sadly, I've had to add a new category in parentheses to these Danger Train updates. The first item in parentheses is documented collisions this year. The second item in parentheses is Danger Train fatalities. The first item (no parentheses) is, of course, total collisions. Laurence Simon posted an early update on the fatal collision. (Update) Chris Elam posted a late-night update as well. The blogHOUSTON/PubliusTX.net night desks were obviously not staffed as well. :) Posted by Kevin Whited publiustx.net

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (61623)	8/3/2007 8:27:12 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

<< "Say, when the feds put tax on gas, didn't they PROMISE the funds raised would be for ROADS? Which would include bridges." >> Here in Pennsylvania we've had two or more hikes in the gas tax in the last 10 or so years, specifically for spending on our infrastructure (roads, bridges, tunnels, etc.). We also have had at least one major Federal gas tax hike in that same period specifically for the same thing. We were repeatedly told this money was going to make dramatic improvements in our road system. Now keep in mind that all these extra billions in tax receipts were in addition to the billions & billions already in the gas tax, plus normal Fed, state & local budgets for infrastructure. I've been saying for a decade that I can't see any improvement whatsoever over the snails pace in fixing potholes, etc. We have the worst roads in the country! And our road system has continued to degrade since the Fed's & state increased those road taxes. So where the hell have those untold new billions gone???