First of all my heart goes out to those young women who lost there mother and the train engineer who wished he could have stopped in time (i am sure he had those thoughts or similar) it is a fatal reminder to all of us who have made mistakes and have forgotten them only to make more...i have always lived and learned by my own mistakes but have also learned to see the reality in others unfortunate behaviors and chose to learn from that too...in this case...do not cross a railroad track without looking!!!! i always ride with the thought in mind that NO ONE sees me...i am my only defense in safety!!! never assume...expecially when it is between me and a car (vehicle) the car always wins

second...has anyone noticed that news reports always seem to blame the vehicle???

"bicycle she was riding was struck"

was her bike in control??? did the bike MAKE her cross the track at the wrong time??? we always see this with car accidents..."the suv she was driving ran the red light" is it me or are we eliminating blame on the rightful person?

I speak of this from personal experience...I have struck a cyclist with my car (let's not mention he was a homeless man wearing only an speedo in a part of town where there is nothing or nowhere for him to be...it was a shipping port...and he was riding in the MIDDLE of the road going the WRONG direction) many workers in that area actually ride thier bikes FOLLOWING THE RULES...not only did i not expect a cyclist to be there I would not have expected another vehicle...it was a ONE WAY!!!! if i had killed him I would have had to live with that for the rest of my life...Thank God he survived but i ask myself all the time "is it fair that I have to live with that pain because of his mistake???" i think of this every time i go out for a road ride...

BTW: i was following the rules of the road...he came out of nowhere!