There have been many tragic fatalities on the railways near Harlow, and more must be done to combat the loss of life.
I believe that a new volunteer force of Special Rail Guards could be similar to the Special Constables in the Police Force: genuinely local people who help their community, by volunteering a few hours a month.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
I'm unsure if this proposal would work, simply because it's impossible to watch every potential accident site all the time.
ReplyDeleteThe man who tragically died last week was a neighbour of my daughter and I for some years, so we were shocked and upset to learn of his death . My daughter had chatted with him some time before the accident and asked him what he was doing these days. Our former neighbour, an extraordinary fit man for his age, told my daughter that he had taken up rambling in the green spaces around Harlow and that he loved this. It helped him to keep himself fit and to keep his mind active.
My daughter and I now wonder if our friend was rambling on the day of the accident and perhaps overestimated his abilities: perhaps he became over tired, misjudged the amount of time he had and/or stumbled, or had some other problem as he crossed the line? We certainly don't believe there could have been any element of intention involved in this tragedy.
I don't honestly see how any amount of people watching accident blackspots could prevent a tragedy like this occurring. Even if a special rail guard had been at the spot, what could she or he have done to prevent the tragedy? If my former neighbour did indeed misjudge the time before the next train and/or stumbled, anyone going to his aid would have been at risk of being killed too.
I think perhaps we as a society have to accept that adults, of whatever age, have the right to take risks when it harms no one and that adults even have the right to take their own lives when, say, due to serious illness or whatever reason, this seems to them to be the rational course of action to take. Perhaps not only can we not always intervene, we should not do so?