An update brought to you by Cingular
#0An update brought to you by Cingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:44pm
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.
Updated On: 3/16/06 at 02:44 PM
#1re: An update brought to you by Ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:46pm
"It is easy for deaf people to walk on railroad tracks under the premise that vibrations would warn them of an oncoming train,"
So...it's common for deaf people to walk along train tracks?
#2re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:46pm
a train can sneak up on you
i may never get this phrase out of my head.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#3re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:49pmWas she deaf from birth? If so, wouldn't she know or have been told by age 19 not to walk near tracks since she wouldn't be able to feel vibrations?
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#4re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:52pmWas there no mention of miniature guide ponies in the article?
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#5re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:54pm
"Mirus said he is working on a national campaign to educate deaf people about the dangers of walking on railroad tracks."
Maybe Marlee Matlin could host a telethon.
#6re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:55pm
Again, this is such an epidemic that a national campaign must be waged?
I find that...well...fascinating is perhaps the best word.
#7re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:55pm
Margo - and what phone was she using.
Do you think they'll install features in all future phones that send you a text with promimity readings of oncoming cars, buses, trains and airplanes?
#8re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:57pm
Didn't she have GPS on her phone? It could have saved her.
Updated On: 3/16/06 at 02:57 PM
#9re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:59pm
Only in Texas, Robbiej. Only in Texas.
*pops in "Dancer in the Dark", learns lesson as Bjork sings and walks along the tracks*
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#10re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:59pm
Maybe there's a market for cellphones with special GPS features for the hearing-impaired. Like when you're busy texting, walking along a railroad track, suddenly a message will pop up:
"Grrrrrrrrl, you betta turn yo' butt around and see what's a-comin'."
#11re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:02pm
I love that the message comes from a streetwise New York gay.
#12re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:02pm
I still refer to my previous comment in the other thread. When walking along train tracks (regardless of whether that's smart or not) - wouldn't it be the "no brainer" to not walk in the same direction, but against the flow of traffic?
Now we'll get studies about the dangers of texting.
Boy is Catherine Zeta Jones going to be busy now!
#13re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:06pm
Because we all know that 18 year olds that can hear never have any lapses in judgement...
Updated On: 3/16/06 at 03:06 PM
#14re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:09pm
Erik - not according to the 18 years old that post here
#15re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:12pmcraig, c'mon, out there in the sticks trains can often go in both directions on the same track. it's true. i grew up in a steeltown and have been dealing with trains all my life.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#16re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:12pm
AND she was texting her parents that she was walking along the tracks?! Maybe that would've been a good time to have a chat about the dangers of rail walking...oops! too late.
and Margo, you are obsessed with those tiny ponies...you need to get one!
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#17re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:15pm

#18re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:17pmAnd it really was all for naught since Katherine wasn't even in the bottom three last night.
#19re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:18pmawww...what'ser name?
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#20re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:19pm
In other news, new signs are now being placed near all train tracks at the expense of the taxpayer.
#21re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:19pm
'I love that the message comes from a streetwise New York gay.'
I thought it was Niecey Nash from Style Network's CLEAN HOUSE.
Same dif.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#22re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:23pm
Not sure what the itty-bitty pony's name is.
Sugarlump?
#23re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:25pmI thought it was EdJr
#24re: an update brought to you by ciingular
Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:25pmCall her Nextel.
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
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