Letters: Rail Safety Week a good time to 'See tracks? Think train!'

Next week (Sept. 19-25) is Rail Safety Week, which aims to help the public make safe decisions around trains and tracks. Although most Americans today know the dangers associated with drunk driving, distracted driving or texting while crossing the street, not enough attention is given to the dangerous and illegal risks people take around railroad tracks.

According to preliminary statistics from the Federal Railroad Administration, 614 pedestrians were killed and 526 injured in trespassing incidents on railroad tracks in 2021, with an additional 236 fatalities and 668 injuries resulting from vehicle-train collisions at rail crossings. In fact, every three hours in the United States a vehicle or person is struck by a train.

In Florida last year, there were 36 trespasser deaths and 21 injuries, along with 22 grade crossing fatalities and 46 crossing injuries (as of Aug. 2022).

So, why is this happening, and what can we do about it?

In our distracted society, people may become complacent or might not understand the need for caution near railroad tracks and trains. Pedestrians and drivers often simply do not realize that it is dangerous and illegal to walk on railroad tracks or how long it takes the average train to stop.

Everyone can save a life in their community by sharing the rail safety message and remembering this simple phrase: “See Tracks? Think Train!”  Visit oli.org to learn more, take our Rail Safety Pledge, and find safety tips to share with your friends and family. Together, we can stop track tragedies — during Rail Safety Week and all year round.

Peggy Smith, regional manager, Community Affairs & Safety, CSX Transportation and board chair, Florida Operation Lifesaver

Learn suicide warning signs before it’s too late

When I look at how society deals with mental illness, a very insightful quote by Daniel J. Boorstin comes to mind. Boorstin said, "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance — it is the illusion of knowledge.”

With the misconceptions of mental health that continue to prevail, this quote truly resonates. Prejudice and ignorance should not be the answer to this crisis.

Rather, it should be education and understanding.

Sadly, since citing our first-hand experiences with suicide two years ago, the suicide rate has gone up. Families of loved ones are left to deal with the aftermath of such a tragedy, forever asking themselves if it could have been prevented. I have personally known eight people who chose this ending and it was a God-awful experience every time.

These warning signs of suicide are indicators that a person may be in acute danger and may urgently need help:

• Talking about wanting to die or to kill oneself;

• Looking for a way to kill oneself;

• Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose;

• Talking about feeling trapped or being in unbearable pain;

• Talking about being a burden to others;

• Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs;

• Acting anxious, agitated or reckless;

• Sleeping too little or too much;

• Withdrawing or feeling isolated;

• Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge; and

• Displaying extreme mood swings.

For more information, visit Suicide Awareness Voices of Education at save.org.  

Richard & Kathleen Marquis, St. Augustine  

Don't be fooled by medical ‘experts’

The Sept. 10 letter from Marie Schaefer (“Experts clear on when life begins”) is false and misleading.

It is false because there is no scientific consensus as to the beginning of human life and the citations of her “experts” are misleading. As a pediatric subspecialist, I had never heard of the American College of Pediatricians (ACP), and for good reason.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is a professional organization that was founded in 1930 and has 67,000 members. The ACP is an advocacy group with roughly 500 members, was founded in 2002 and is focused on opposing abortion, rejecting adoption by gay parents and supporting discredited conversion therapy. The Southern Poverty Law Center actually has the ACP listed as a hate group.

The other source in her letter, Michael Egnor, MD, is noted for his opposition to abortion and rejection of evolution. His views on these topics are widely debunked.

The fertilized zygote and embryo clearly represent a potential human being, not an actual human being. At a very real level, the ethical issues around abortion represent the relative autonomy of a potential human (the zygote, embryo or fetus) and that of a human mother. There is nothing in science to answer that question.

It's too bad such a misleading letter was published without context.

Paul A. Pitel, MD, Jacksonville 

What goes around comes around

The writings of late German philosopher and Holocaust survivor Hannah Arendt have garnered new attention and discussion with Donald Trump’s presidency (and his quest to regain it). Her views are called to mind with recent proclamations warning of the impending demise of American democracy and replacement with an authoritarian, totalitarian or semi-fascist state.

Her central theme is “the violation of truth,” and “truth and politics don’t stand on common ground.”

We should be mindful of election conspiracies, along with malicious intent to control the electoral and voting process. Destruction of vital institutions — the media, elections, judiciary, Department of Justice and national security — historically portend a worrisome future.

Governor DeSantis, through his various education initiatives, could be included in her warning: “The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.” George Orwell, in his dystopian novel “1984,” voiced a similar warning related to education: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

Finally, as philosopher George Santayana stated more than 100 years ago (and history consistently proves), “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Michael Miller, Ponte Vedra Beach

Questionable penalty for city attorney

Former city attorney for Jacksonville Beach, Christopher Ambrosio, was convicted last week of third-degree felony child abuse. This was reduced from lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim 12- to 16-years-old and contributing to the delinquency of a child.

Under the initial arrest charges, he could have received a sentence of up to five years in prison. His sentence at the lesser charge netted no contact with the victim or other minors, therapy and submitting his DNA sample to law enforcement. However, he will not be placed on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's child sex offender list.

After reading the details in the Sept. 12 Times-Union article, I have to ask myself: Why does a city attorney only get a slap on the wrist? Will the Florida Bar revoke his license?

Is this justice, that a 51-year-old man basically gets away with harming a young girl who may be emotionally scarred for life? Where were her parents in all of this, to allow an unsupervised "sleepover" visit?

Who am I to judge? I am a father of two daughters and grandfather to three girls, and I am very frustrated at this sad situation.

Rob Richardson, Jacksonville Beach 

Vote for economy or basic rights?

I hear many people list “the economy” as their most important consideration in determining how they will vote in the November elections. I would remind these folks that the economy has historically been cyclical. It always has been and probably always will be. It is already trending up and will come roaring back in a few months or a year or so, no matter who is president and it will remain vibrant until the next inevitable downturn. We have been through this cycle for generations.

In stark contrast, many of our precious civil liberties, including — but not limited to — the right to vote and a woman’s right to control her own body, may be lost forever if the tyranny of the radical right is allowed to prevail.

Something to think about very seriously when entering the voting booth on Nov. 8: Would you rather put up with an (admittedly) uncomfortable but temporary economic squeeze or are you willing to sacrifice some of your most basic rights in a democracy?

Carol Nairn, Jacksonville 

New law will penalize homeless

The City of Jacksonville is about to criminalize panhandling under the pretext of preventing traffic fatalities. Unfortunately, this is a mean-spirited trend that's catching on across the nation — virtually criminalizing people for the misfortune of having fallen into homelessness. Just over the summer, a city in Tennessee became the very first in the nation to make it a felony to remain on public property. Yet the city government will not make any provisions for homeless people to relocate.

Perhaps the most repugnant and therefore abundantly hypocritical aspect (of at least some of these scenarios) is that the same governmental officials who are criminalizing homelessness, use the exact same process to adopt laws and loosen regulations to allow the wealthy to receive corporate welfare. Formally called "economic incentives,” it allows executives to further enrich themselves while simultaneously refusing to require that a small percentage of said funds be used to ameliorate the odious problem of homelessness.

A. Wellington Barlow, Esq., Jacksonville 

Glaring history omission

On page A2 of last Sunday’s edition was the ‘Today in History’ section for Sept. 11. While I was fascinated by “1936: Boulder Dam began operation,” “1941: Groundbreaking of the Pentagon,” “1954: Miss America's TV debut” and “1967: The Carol Burnett Show premiere,” I'm quite taken aback that "2001: America is attacked in NYC and Washington, DC” was not included.

Thousands died and thus began the nation's longest war, costing thousands more lives, yet this event didn't make the cut. Whether intentional or accidental, the omission is unconscionable.

As a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and — more importantly — an American, I am disappointed in your omission beyond words. Your failure to list 9/11/2001 as a significant event is a slap in the face to every 9/11 victim, their families, friends, all Americans and the billions around the world who reject mass murder of innocent civilians for any reason.

Brian Baker, USMC Ret., St. Johns 

9/11 forgotten?

Last Sunday, Sept. 11, I noticed the glaring omission of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the section titled "Today in History." The only mention in the whole paper was a reprinted article on an airline executive's remembrance of that day.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 still should've been included and listed there. What does "Never Forget" mean to you?

Jack Ferguson, Jacksonville

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Letters: Rail Safety Week a good time to 'See tracks? Think train!'