Amtrak #354 struck a Ferndale teen

[OwlCaboose2853]

Ferndale teen dies after being struck by train

BY GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

July 30, 2006

A teen was hit and killed by a passenger train early Saturday at 9 Mile and Hilton in Ferndale.

Ferndale Sgt. Steve Jennings said police received several calls from witnesses and the train operator about the accident around 2 a.m.

He said that the teen, who is from Ferndale, but whose age and identity were not released, was walking when he was hit.

Police said they believe the teen was with at least one other person, who was not injured. It's unclear whether alcohol or drugs were involved, Jennings said.

The Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office is handling the autopsy and toxicology report, he said.

Most of the teen's family has been notified, Jennings said.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 00668/1005

[rsinoms]

They need to fence in the rail line from jackson to detroit. Its sad to see so many people dying and the train crew having to suffer the trama. But in a sense its just natures way of taking out the garbage. But seriously if another person get killed from DET-Jackson this year the railroad should consider fencing in the line.

[GT Railfan]

I was down here in pontiac that night and I heard the radio transmission from the amtrak to the dispatcher. I have to say it has got to be hard on the crews aboard the trains.(you could hear it in the engineers voice). Then to keep the railroad on there feet, they had to worry about how many people were there and how close they were from the tracks.

[R Bedell]

Well, it is fine and Dandy to fence the RR off from the rest of the World. Seems strange to me that a 16 yr old kid out at 1:30am on the RR tracks.
As Dr Phil would say...."What were you thinking?". There has to be responsibility on the part of the Teen as well as his Parents. You can't fence the RR's from everyone's lack of stupidity. But that is just my opinion.

[OwlCaboose2853]

Ferndale teen dies after being struck by train

BY GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

July 30, 2006

A teen was hit and killed by a passenger train early Saturday at 9 Mile and Hilton in Ferndale.

Ferndale Sgt. Steve Jennings said police received several calls from witnesses and the train operator about the accident around 2 a.m.

He said that the teen, who is from Ferndale, but whose age and identity were not released, was walking when he was hit.

Police said they believe the teen was with at least one other person, who was not injured. It's unclear whether alcohol or drugs were involved, Jennings said.

The Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office is handling the autopsy and toxicology report, he said.

Most of the teen's family has been notified, Jennings said.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 00668/1005

Ferndale teenager killed by train was playing on tracks
Police say he was flattening coins

Photo (blurr picture) http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc ... =608020380

David Smith was only a high school senior, but he was already an experienced entertainer.

The 16-year-old dressed up as the Easter Bunny for children at the Ferndale Community Center and, his father said, last Christmas when kids there were in line waiting for Santa Claus, David saved them from boredom with card tricks.

"He would bring a smile to your face," David's father Lloyd Smith said Tuesday. "Whether you knew my son or not, five minutes after you met him you were his best friend."

About 2 a.m. Saturday, he likely was trying to impress four friends with a trick to flatten coins on a railroad track, Smith said. But he didn't move away fast enough, and an approaching train struck him.

The Ferndale High School student was killed when an Amtrak train hit him at Hilton Road near Saratoga Street in Ferndale, said Ferndale Police Lt. Norm Raymond. The guardrails were down, the bells ringing and lights flashing. The train could not stop in time, Raymond said.

It's unclear whether alcohol or drugs were involved, Raymond said.

David will be buried today in Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkley after a memorial service at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, 13500 Oak Park Blvd. in Oak Park.

Raymond said David's death was tragic, but should be a warning to others.

"It's dangerous to put coins on the track -- you can get killed," he said.

Flattening coins is a trick that has been going on for generations, David's father said.

"Who hasn't put a quarter or a penny on the railroad tracks?" Lloyd Smith asked. "Growing up, we had tracks behind us. I didn't think of the consequences at the time either."

From 1999 to 2004, there were 11 railroad-related deaths in Michigan among children and teens ages 1 to 19, according to the Michigan Public Health Institute. The deaths weren't necessarily related to putting coins on the tracks.Allen Bard, Michigan coordinator for Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit group committed to educating the public about railroad safety, said many accidents and fatalities result from this activity.

People "will put items on the track to see if the 12-million pound train is actually going to smash it," said Bard.

The train engineer told police that he saw David in his path bending over, as if he were placing something on the tracks. The engineer said he applied the brakes and sounded the horn. The teen tried to run, but it was too late.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 20380/1005