Out of respect, I declined to post this story yesterday, but it just got better, and now I can't resist.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/15/miss.d ... index.html

Deaf beauty queen was text-messaging when hit by train

By Elizabeth Yuan
CNN


Wednesday, March 15, 2006; Posted: 1:42 p.m. EST (18:42 GMT)

(CNN) -- Deaf beauty contest winner Tara McAvoy was walking from home to her mother's workplace, text-messaging family and friends, as she walked along the railroad tracks in Austin, Texas, when a train struck her, according to the Austin Police Department.

A Massachusetts-born Texan, who liked to quote "Don't mess with Texas," the 18-year-old was going to represent the Lone Star State at the Miss Deaf America Pageant in Palm Desert, California, this July.

It was one of many pageants McAvoy had entered, "both in the hearing community and in the deaf community," said Claire Bugen, superintendent of the Texas School for the Deaf, on Wednesday.

The Austin Police Department received a 911 call from Union-Pacific, which owns the train, at 2:18 p.m. Monday, said Laura Albrecht, spokesperson for the Austin Police Department.

"Our understanding is that she text-messaged the family, and yes, the family members were going to pick her up," Albrecht added.

McAvoy was walking northbound along the railroad ties, with her back to the train, as it approached. A horn sounded, but "they weren't able to get a response," said Austin Police Department detective David Fugitt. "At that point, they activated their emergency braking system, but they weren't able to stop in time."

A snowplow -- commonly referred to as "cattle-guards" for pushing items away from the tracks to avoid train damage -- was what struck McAvoy, who was estimated to be "no more than a foot" from the tracks, Fugitt said.

"The snowplow extends approximately 16 inches on each side from the train," he said, and was mounted to the front engine of the train.

McAvoy died at the scene from "multiple traumatic injuries," Fugitt said.

Fugitt said there were witnesses who had heard the horn sound and that the police department was actively seeking anyone who had seen the accident occur.

An investigation is underway with Union Pacific and the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, Fugitt said. He said it was unclear how fast the train was going.

Sad, it's tragic when someone so young is killed, regardless of political beliefs or any ancillary circumstances involved. You never know, she may have evolved into a liberal....so young.....so sad.

That being said, nightshade laughs sardonically.

Huh? Why do political beliefs even enter into the equation? Why even bring it up?

And how do you know that she wasn't a raging pinko, anyway?

The headline on CNN.com read "Miss deaf Texas hit by train, killed" yesterday. I know I'm going straight to hell, but I laughed out loud. It seemed like an oOnion headline.

Lotsa respectable people been hit by trains.

Not to be rude or crass or insensitive, but if you are deaf, why would you ever walk on train tracks? I mean, you know you can't hear a train coming!

Several weren't even drunk at the time.

Not too good at reading between the lines, are you? She was from Texas, liked to quote "Don't mess with Texas" Did you even read the post?

One of my best friends grew up in Dallas, went to A&M, says "Don't Mess with Texas" all the time and is way left of center. Never assume.


I'm surprised she couldn't feel the train's vibration before it got to her. What a shame.

She was also Miss Numb Texas.

SO wrong

That's a fair question.

ahuahuehuehueahueauhauheuahuauaehehuaehua



the amount of dark humor is imensurable

She will be missed by everyone. Except the train

Praise from Caesar.

how about the conductors who saw her, tried to stop, and couldn't?

Of course Deaf people aren't disabled, they're just special.

A recipe for disaster ends in...disaster.

On behalf of all liberal Texans, shut the fuck up.

And in other news, the chick was deaf. I guess hindsight is 20/20 but it seems to me that deaf people should take care when text messaging on a train track.

you can't feel vibrations from a train, apparently:

AUSTIN (March 14) - The reigning Miss Deaf Texas who was killed by a train was text messaging her parents and friends on her cell phone as she walked near the tracks and might have been distracted, police said.

Tara McAvoy, 18, was walking about a foot away from Union Pacific railroad tracks. She had typed a message to her parents, both of whom are hearing-impaired, letting them know she was walking along the tracks from home to her mother's workplace on Monday.

A few minutes later, McAvoy was struck by the snowplow on the front of a 65-car Union Pacific train, which authorities said extended 16 inches on both sides of the tracks. She died at the scene.

"As the train approached, they sounded the horn and got no response," Austin police Detective David Fugitt said. "They activated the emergency brakes but were unable to stop in time."

Fugitt said he is not sure whether McAvoy would have felt vibrations from the train, which was hauling a fleet of cars from Mexico to St. Louis.

Gene Mirus, an instructor in the deaf studies department at Gallaudet University in Washington, said deaf people often have a false sense of security when walking along train tracks.

"It is easy for deaf people to walk on railroad tracks under the premise that vibrations would warn them of an oncoming train," Mirus wrote the Austin American-Statesman in an e-mail. "Contrary to what most people think, there are no vibrations on railroad tracks."

Based on factors ranging from the type of train to its weight to the kind of rail, a person wouldn't necessarily feel any vibrations from an approaching train, said Warren Flatau, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, which is part of U.S. Department of Transportation and regulates the safety of the nation's railroad operations.

"A train can sneak up on you," he said.

A railroad spokesman said that the accident underscores the danger of walking anywhere near railroad tracks.

"It's not safe to be there," said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis.

Mirus said he is working on a national campaign to educate deaf people about the dangers of walking on railroad tracks.

McAvoy graduated from the Texas School for the Deaf in 2005 and won the state pageant in June. She was scheduled to compete in the national pageant in California this year. She had been a cheerleader, a basketball player and an honor roll student at the school.