[Article] Man on run saved by train driver

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...310004758.html

Man on run saved by train driver
BARRY ROCHE

A SUSPECTED car thief had a lucky escape yesterday when, after crashing into another car on a notoriously dangerous railway bridge in Cork city, he jumped over the parapet of the bridge only to land in front of an oncoming train, which managed to stop.

The drama began at about 5.30pm when a woman went into a chip shop on Mac Curtain Street, leaving the keys in the ignition of her Audi. A man aged about 40 jumped into the car and sped off in the direction of Glanmire.

The incident was spotted by gardaí on patrol who were following the man when he failed to negotiate the Skew Bridge at Tivoli and crashed into an oncoming Honda Civic containing a couple travelling into the city .

The driver fled the scene on foot and jumped over the parapet of the bridge only to find himself facing an oncoming commuter train. The driver spotted the man and was able to stop in time.

That bridge needs to have a permanent fix.

[Colm Moore]

Photos at link.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0108/cork.html

Man taken to hospital after 6m fall in Cork

Updated: 16:58, Monday, 9 January 2012

A man has been taken to hospital in Cork after he crashed the car he was driving while trying to escape from gardaí.

A man has been taken to hospital in Cork after he crashed the car he was driving and jumped from a railway bridge while trying to escape from gardaí.

The incident happened at around 6.15pm at the Skew Bridge on the lower Glanmire Road in Cork.

It is understood the car the man was driving had been stolen from MacCurtain Street, around 2km away, some minutes earlier.

The car is reported to have travelled on the wrong side of the road outbound on the lower Glanmire Road.

It crashed into another car on the Skew Bridge - leaving a couple with minor injuries.

The man then received serious leg injuries when he jumped 6.1m from the railway bridge.

He was stretchered to an ambulance and is now being treated in hospital.

The incident has been referred to the Garda Ombudsman Commission.

[Destructix]

Obviously an individual of low mental capacity. Who jumps 6 meters off a bridge on to a train line. Was it the Mainline or the Middleton line?

[Mark Gleeson]

It was the Cork - Cobh/Midleton line, just south of Cork station

[ACustomer]

Obviously a failed Darwin award candidate.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Destructix

Who jumps 6 meters off a bridge on to a train line.

When jumping over a wall, one doesn't always realise that there is a larger drop on the other side.

I presume this is the spot (it might have been the diagonally opposite corner): http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=Lower+G.... 46,,0,19.36

The spot is on the main route from the city to Dublin and Waterford and has an advisory 25km/h speed limit.

[Destructix]

He was lucky that it wasn't the mainline. Still a belt of a 2600 at 25km a hour would do some damage.

[Colm Moore]

Given that an adult weights 50-100kg, it doesn't matter whether you are hit by a 100 tonne (100,000kg) train or a 1,000 tonne (1,000,000kg) train. If you are hit at anything more than a few km/h you will be grievously injured - the outside of a train is designed to interact with other trains, not people. Even if hit at a low speed you will only survive if you are thrown clear and your not hit a second time / run over.

The only reasons (most) people survive being hit by trams are because those strikes are at low speed and trams are designed for on-street use, with the "nose cone" is made from a sacrificial piece of fibreglass.

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

It was the Cork - Cobh/Midleton line, just south of Cork station

The skew is east of the station. South of the station requires something that floats

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

The skew is east of the station. South of the station requires something that floats

"South" as a train travel direction, not a geographical pointer.