Nearly 500 pedestrians in the U.S. died last year in circumstances similar to the accident that took 17-year-old Akilah Boddy?s life Wednesday morning, according to a safety advocate group.
The Harford County girl was taking a shortcut to school over the railroad tracks when she was hit by a train.
Akilah was hard of hearing, said her father, Leon Boddy.
But experts say trains are also a lot quieter than they used to be.
“They don?t have that clackety-clack sound any more,” said Marnie Edwards, vice president of communications for Operation Lifesaver, which is dedicated to educating people about the dangers of crossing train tracks.
People just don?t realize how little time they have between first seeing or hearing a train coming and the train being on top of them, she said. It can be a matter of mere seconds, less time than it takes to process the information and get out of the way, she said.
The train that struck Akilah was going 125 mph, said Katrina Romero, an Amtrak spokeswoman. That is the accepted speed limit in the area, and every Amtrak train in the busy corridor between D.C. and Boston passes through there, she said. She said another pedestrian was killed crossing the tracks March 26 in Havre de Grace.
People just don?t realize how fast 125 mph is, Edwards said.
“It?s also a little bit of an optical illusion. Given the huge mass, it looks like it?s going slower and like it?s further away.”
Akilah may not have ever even seen it.
“She didn?t even look,” said her boyfriend, Reggie, who was with her.
The tracks in that area run through heavy woods and come around a bend.
A train that came by there Thursday afternoon was barely visible before it rushed past the spot where Akilah died.
