zombie cyclists

velopeloton

A cyclist killed by a train she did not hear because of an Ipod.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/accidents/news/article.cfm?c_id=13&objectid=10639774

markpb

velopeloton wrote: »

A cyclist killed by a train she did not hear because of an Ipod.

Or more accurately:

The woman had stepped around a pedestrian fence while the rail barriers were down.

Her "iPod-style music player" had little or nothing to do with it.

short circuit

I like the way the ipod gets blamed. Nothing of the fact that :-
1. She used the pedestrian pathway when she found the rail road crossing closed - 1st hint that a train might be coming
2. Or even earlier - when I cross a road, I look both sides. And when I cross tracks, I do so twice

Darwinism is to be blamed.

ED E

Idiot.

Canis Lupus

Silly lady. What is it with level crossing and people dying on them.... One would think that when the rails go down it's a no brainer to just wait....

Slight derail I was talking to a fella in the gym and he was about to start cycling to work and he said roughly "I'm not going to be one of those stupid cyclists with their earphones in etc etc". He didn't think I made any sense when I suggested I've been cycling some 10 years on urban roads listening to music without any incidents and that listening to music whilst cycling is perfectly safe.

"You would not miss a train if your ears were not blocked" Just wanted to check on this quote from that article. I thought if a train is going at its normal speed it compresses air in front of it or something and you often can't hear them coming? Or do they slow for level crossings?

Lumen

Canis Lupus wrote: »

listening to music whilst cycling is perfectly safe.

Can be perfectly safe.

I feckin hate iPods. Whatever about cycling, they reduce pedestrians to selfish zombies incapable of receiving communication until they choose to unplug themselves.

</rant>

niceonetom

cdaly_

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I thought if a train is going at its normal speed it compresses air in front of it or something and you often can't hear them coming?

It probably does compress air in front of it but it would need to be travelling at the speed of sound for you not to hear it until it reaches you. That said, the sound will travel through the tracks faster again so you'll hear/feel the train from the tracks before you'll hear it through the air.

Or do they slow for level crossings?

Generally not. If you see a train slowing as it passes a crossing, there's probably a station or such ahead. Away from stations, the train runs at top speed all the time...

rflynnr

niceonetom wrote: »

Hey, doesn't the guy in the cycle gear/headphones also play a courier in Spaced? Presuming this is a still from "Shaun of the Dead", that's a neat bit of intertextuality.

kumate_champ07

what was she listening to?

Pigeon Reaper

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

what was she listening to?

Johnny Cash, Folsom prison blues.

rflynnr

Pigeon Reaper wrote: »

Johnny Cash, Folsom prison blues.

Very droll.

mockler007

so the ipod made her walk around the gate hmmmm, dam ipods making us walk around railway crossing gates with flashing lights and into the path of big trains

tomasrojo

rflynnr wrote: »

Hey, doesn't the guy in the cycle gear/headphones also play a courier in Spaced? Presuming this is a still from "Shaun of the Dead", that's a neat bit of intertextuality.

Corrrect!

If you find that interesting, listen to the director's/writer's commentary on the DVD; it'is full of such information. It's a very layered film. Hot Fuzz too. Very rich with references and in-jokes.

ED E

Music is fine as long as you can hear sirens and scobies doing 100kph. Since I use in ear phones I'll usually leave te right one out during rush hour and at night.

Lumen

I guess I'm missing something here, but presumably the music player had a lot to do with her not hearing the train unless it was a suicide.

Obviously the iPod didn't make her go round the barrier and cross the tracks, but I don't think anyone is suggesting that.

The whole point of the anti-loud-iPod argument is that when you make a mistake you can't hear people helpfully point it out, so you're removing a layer of error correction. Since people who buy Apple products are perfect, I'm guessing this means that the music player was some kind of cheap knock off from Sony, who as everyone knows never invented anything original in the realm of portable music playing devices.