The derailment of the Amtrak train this week, a tragedy that touches us all, hits our hometown especially hard, with one of the people who lost their lives in the horrific wreck a Plainsboro father of two. Almost anyone who commutes to work, rides a train, makes a living, or has a family, almost anyone can identify with the cruel and random nature of sudden death, especially in the midst of this season of celebration: communions, weddings, and graduations.
I didn’t know Jim Gaines, but I feel like we might have been neighbors or friends, and my heart goes out to his family. I feel another tie of kinship, since he worked for the Associated Press, the place where I started my own media career. Once a part of the AP family, you are always a part of the AP family, and the loss of this talented and dedicated video software architect has created ripples that reach far and wide in both my work and home communities.
It is part of the law of averages; the more you travel, the more miles you log, whether it’s on planes, trains, or automobiles, the greater the chances that something could go awry: a train speeding out of control, a plane in the hands of a deranged pilot, a car with a distracted driver going the wrong way on a highway.
Every time you leave your home, you can pray that you will return safely that night, that today is not the day your number is up. But there are other more concrete ways to improve everyone’s odds of coming back into the arms of loved ones, to make the art and science of travel more safe.
The May 12 derailment was Amtrak’s ninth so far this year, a year that has not yet even hit its halfway point. Let’s face it; our nation’s railroad system, much of it constructed in the 19th century, is old and showing way too many signs of wear. Not just our railroads, but also our entire infrastructure — bridges, roads, and tunnels — is badly in need of repair.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation will take months to come up with any conclusions about cause, but it already has been revealed that the stretch of track where the derailment took place was not equipped with an automated speed control system called positive train control that can slow down a speeding train. And why wasn’t it so equipped?
It boils down to money. Evidently, it is too expensive to perform safety retrofits on all of America’s sagging infrastructure; the cost of installing existing devices and technology that could save lives is apparently too high to warrant the necessary approvals.
But what is the cost of a human life of a father who will never come home, a mother who will never see her baby grow up, a son who will never graduate from the United States Naval Academy? All of these lives are priceless. They are lives that never should be placed at the losing end of a budget decision.
There is, of course, the human factor that could be a part of any mishap anytime you are traveling. I had just told Will the story of a recent accident on Route 1 in West Windsor where a car carrying an elderly couple was rear-ended by a driver. It was a horrible accident; one of the couple died, though the other survived. I was telling the story to Will as a reminder not to text, talk, and drive, and never to fiddle with the dials to adjust the music. I was also reminding him always to keep an eye on the rearview mirror to observe the cars behind him. If a distracted driver plowed into him, such vigilance could mean the difference between a minor accident and a major one.
The very next day, we were rear-ended on the way to school, literally three minutes from our house, right at the T-intersection where Prospect Street runs into Plainsboro Road in front of the firehouse. That intersection is really bad always, but especially at rush hour, where turning left is difficult, and cars are unwilling to slow down to let you in before they make their own left turn.
There was a sudden boom, as a truck, a recycling truck and about as large as you can get, smacked into the back of our car, of course, not my battle ax Dodge Caravan, but the small Japanese car, our newest. It could have been really bad, if the truck had been full speed forward, but the driver had braked and therefore lessened the impact, though the car was definitely damaged. But we were lucky. Though shaken, we were both fine and I am grateful.
As someone who tries to see the silver lining, I tried to use the experience as a teachable moment, to explain how important it is to pay attention at all times behind the wheel, how something could go terribly wrong in a split second and how vigilance is the watchword any time you are on the road. Though it was an expensive and hugely inconvenient lesson, I think Will understood that life can turn on a dime; it can be fragile and must be protected and cherished.
I am thinking about Jim Gaines and his family, as well as all the others touched by the Amtrak tragedy. We are sorry for your loss; our community has lost one of our own, and we are deeply saddened.
