Train driver mental health

[strange6]

If you start a discussion on a fatality then don't criticise those who discuss areas of fatalities! How you can say this is an area you never intended to discuss I don't know, unless you don't understand how discussions work!

For someone who had their 'last post' on the subject some time ago you still seem to want to contribute to the discussion.

If you don't want a discussion to cover all areas of a topic then don't start threads on discussion boards my friend.

I don't like people turning respectful discussions into petty arguements, 'my friend'. Something which your co-workers seem like doing
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

No, but I wouldn't go to a colleague who had had a fatality and seek to discuss how this affects his mental health. Some subjects are taboo and not talked about. Disrespectful is the wrong word, but a little (inadvertently) thoughtless and insensitive perhaps given the number of staff here.

Well I'm sure that if this subject was taboo, it would have been deleted by the moderators in the first instance. It was not

 

[1V53]

If you can't see it then there's not much point in me trying to explain it further. If you started a thread on a classic car thread about an accident someone had had going to a classic show asking about how they had handled that, on a board where you knew a member had had a fatality in a similar circumstance a year previously, I think you'd kick yourself for your insensitivity if that person reacted negatively, and apologise.

By continuing to defend yourself you really are trampling on the feelings of those whose lives have been affected by fatalities.the thread did take a bad path but it's hardly surprising given the title and subject.

 

[yorkie]

I wish I never started this thread in the first place. The way some of my comments have been taken and interpreted is an absolute disgrace.
If a mod could remove this thread, then I would appreciate it.

I agree some of the posts here are a disgrace.

A member of this forum has been banned because he was issued with infraction points for the way he spoke to another member of this forum in this topic, combined with previous infraction points.

Unfortunately the post in question was made at around 2am this morning, around 10 hours ago, yet no-one reported it, or any of the subsequent arguments, to us until approximately 20 minutes ago.

I therefore have to decide whether to spend ages reviewing all these posts. Unfortunately I do not have the time to do that.

 

[strange6]

If you can't see it then there's not much point in me trying to explain it further. If you started a thread on a classic car thread about an accident someone had had going to a classic show asking about how they had handled that, on a board where you knew a member had had a fatality in a similar circumstance a year previously, I think you'd kick yourself for your insensitivity if that person reacted negatively, and apologise.

By continuing to defend yourself you really are trampling on the feelings of those whose lives have been affected by fatalities.the thread did take a bad path but it's hardly surprising given the title and subject.

Well, I think we'll leave it at then shall we? No more posts on this topic please people (just to show you I do have some sensitivity)

 

[yorkie]

Well I'm sure that if this subject was taboo, it would have been deleted by the moderators in the first instance. It was not

I'm sure that if it was reported to us in the first instance of where it started getting abusive, we would have taken immediate action, however it was not.

The report button is at the bottom-left of each post and looks like this:

 

[strange6]

I agree some of the posts here are a disgrace.

A member of this forum has been banned because he was issued with infraction points for the way he spoke to another member of this forum in this topic, combined with previous infraction points.

Unfortunately the post in question was made at around 2am this morning, around 10 hours ago, yet no-one reported it, or any of the subsequent arguments, to us until approximately 20 minutes ago.

I therefore have to decide whether to spend ages reviewing all these posts. Unfortunately I do not have the time to do that.

thanks for that, Yorkie. No more posts please. I apologise to any people affected by this issue. Let's leave it a that please

 

[O L Leigh]

I was simply commenting on O L Leigh jumping on Strange6 by saying that 258 deaths per year isn't rare when in fact compared to the number of trains run per day it is rare. Whether 258 deaths is accurate doesn't matter in this case as the issue is O L Leighs definition of "rare".

My post got deleted for some reason. I presume things got a bit heated.

I didn't say "rare", I said "random". Strange6 was trying to say that it is unlikely any given driver will be involved with a fatality, and my reply was that this was nonsense because these incidents are, by their nature, random. Some drivers go a whole career without a single fatality while others can clock up some impressive totals in a very short space of time.

Just in case we're still casting around for where this figure of 258 came from, it's contained in the RSSB's Overview of Safety Performance for 2010.

O L Leigh

 

[yorkie]

Regarding the war of statistics is that peoples view on what is "rare" is subjective, and may well depend on the severity of that event. For example: if a season ticket holder was delayed (a trivial event) once every year, is a delay then "rare"? Most people would say yes! If a season ticket holder experienced a derailment (a major event) every year, you wouldn't blame them saying it was "common". Yet both are the same frequency. So no 'side' can ever win this argument, as it is subjective. My suggestion is that people who claim that railway suicides or fatalities are rare consider that, to a driver it is a major event, so it may not seem "rare" to them at all. Sensitivity is needed.

The arguments about car drivers and train drivers is not going to work. Firstly the comparison would need to be taxi drivers really (as they drive for a living!) and when you consider the statistics will be based on passenger miles, a train driver of a 12-car EMU from London to Peterborough at up to 100mph with perhaps 1,000 passengers on board for a 76 mile journey lasting 1 hour, is going to do as many passenger miles (in theory up to 76,000 although in reality in my example it would be less as many would get off at St Neots/Huntingdon which are a bit less than that - but you get my point!) in ONE HOUR as a taxi driver may do in, how long? 5+ years? So, the arguments just aren't valid at all, you just can't say "road deaths are more likely but I don't know anyone who drives a car who experienced a death therefore...." as it simply does not work. Not to mention the fact it could be considered insensitive toward train drivers, although I am sure no offence was intended.

Striker's original offending post was indeed deleted, and I did delete some of the posts that then referred to it, however I then realised that it would be a huge undertaking to moderate the thread so I soon had to leave it there.

I think the thread has run its course, and I am pleased that it has ended amicably.

I had not intended to read this topic originally, given that I know someone who committed suicide. No-one knows how people can possibly react to suicides until you experience it yourself. Something I know all too well now. Anyone involved in one in any way, I have you in my thoughts. I won't say "I know how you feel" as I don't, no-one does. Everyone is different.

 

[ungreat]

I had one last friday,hit a chap at 90mph....not nice.

 

[Rugd1022]

You have my sympathies Ungreat, I hope you're getting the support you need from your company. Been there myself and had a few near misses since, not a pleasant situation to be in from any angle.

 

[SouthEastern-465]

I had one last friday,hit a chap at 90mph....not nice.

Sorry to here that. Hope you are ok anyhow.

 

[ReverendFozz]

When I was a kid about 17-18, I saw a suicide on the Tube, was stood behind a guy who decided to throw him in front of the tube, he was that close I could have put my hand and touched him, I think it was Kings Cross, also in 1999 or 2000 a friend of mine was crossing the tracks near Tursdale very early in the morning, from what I remember he could only be identified by dental records, because of that and the Tube Suicide, I never went anywhere near a Railway Station for nearly 2 years, and used a train again only when I had to be somewhere at a certain time and had no other choice, as for the Tube, I have only used it once, no sooner had the doors closed I had a panic attack and had to leave at the next stop, never used The Tube since, I am still traumatised by it to this day(Im nearly 30, so was about 13yrs ago) and still have nightmares, I know what it is like from a punters point of view. god knows what it must be like for a driver, and never talked about it to anybody till my GP was trying to find out why I have had an irregular sleeping pattern and insomia for years, and opened up to him about it...

 

[ANorthernGuard]

We3 have a saying on the Railway (and this is by no means disrespectful to any Train Crew or person that has been involved in one of these incidents) S**t Happens, its part of the job and depending on the person we handle it in our own unique way, myself personally I had a few days off and got back to work, my Driver had 2 more days than me off and went back to it, I know some drivers who can't go back near a cab through Trauma, everyone is different but we all accept it is a hazard of the job.

 

[bAzTNM]

Anybody know how often it happens in Scotland? You don't hear about them in the papers much.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I had one last friday,hit a chap at 90mph....not nice.

I'm very sorry to hear that.
Please take your time in getting back into your stride. As others have said, we're all different in how we respond, and sometimes we're even quite inconsistent ourselves from one event to another. Past events can come back out of nowhere to worry us.

Its usually best to talk to friends about it, though (though maybe not exclusively on an internet forum!).

All best wishes.

 

[ReverendFozz]

hey ungreat, sorry to hear about that

 

[ungreat]

Thank you all...I'm ok and better by the day but it was a really bloody one.I'm going day by day and its getting better.I want to go back to work but sanity tells me to not rush it!

 

[Juniper Driver]

I had one almost ten years ago.From the first second I didn't feel guilty.The bloke deliberately did it IMHO and that's that.I almost had one at Woking almost three years ago but I had already slowed the train down as I was annoyed at catching the train in front.I wasn't booked to call at Woking.Also same thing at Motspur Park in the 1990's bloke standing in the four foot at night at the station and I stopped the train by slamming the brake in emergency.

Funnily enough I think the Woking incident shook me up more than any of the others.Person standing in front of me near juice rails with 750v volts going through them.(of course I had the juice turned off and up main/slow lines blocked)

The aftermath of my (actual) fatality was I went straight back to work and wanted to drive a train ASAP.

I remember when that happened and I ran into Vauxhall successfully,my confidence was restored.

 

[Danielle93]

For everyones info it was my uncle that did that on the 26th feb 2011 fair enough u wana no how the druver feels but what the hell my family is torn apart i think u need to fink before u write stuff on ea how do u think i feel ea ... with a forum about my uncle! :cry:

 

[exile]

There was a bloke on the Bombay Railway TV programme who'd run over something like 70 people in his career.....

 

[GB]

For everyones info it was my uncle that did that on the 26th feb 2011 fair enough u wana no how the druver feels but what the hell my family is torn apart i think u need to fink before u write stuff on ea how do u think i feel ea ... with a forum about my uncle! :cry:

Sorry for your loss, but this thread was started with the intention gaining insight of the drivers perspective. No one here knows you or your family and with the greatest of respect, for those not personally involved it was just another fatality on the railway. Obviously from the families view point that is very very different.

 

[dieselbashdave]

Hi Danielle,

Sorry about your loss. I can't imagine how it must feel to have a family tragedy played out for the world to see and look at. My sincere condolences and best wishes.

Dave.

 

[ReverendFozz]

Here Here Danielle

Sorry for your loss, cant begin to imagine what it must be like for you and your family, I have seen what a railway fatality does, not in my own family, but a friend.

Maybe now really is the right time for a line to be drawn under this thread and get it locked or removed alltogether