Miss Deaf Texas struck by train, killed

I don't think she commited suicide. She was on her way to see her mom and she got alots going for her.
 
It's suicide.

No matter she deaf or not. Train's horn pretty LOUD enough for people can FEEL. Why she still use pager(sk2 or something) during walk over rail?

She went to gallaudet for ONE semester... she didnt actually stay there for a full of semester. She withdrew in the middle of the semester.

Could be her depression and giving up her life.
 
Momoftwo said:
It does NOT matter if you are hearing or deaf. Either way she was not paying attention OR committed suicide....we won't know which one. Again, it doesn't matter about hearing or deaf. In two days ago, there were 3 HEARING people who were killed by the trains!
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She is too busy on pager.
 
Neo said:
She is too busy on pager.
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Then, she was very stupid for focusing on the pager - like cellphone. Or maybe she didn't care for her life. Yes, very sad though. sigh
 
Liebling:-))) said:
How do you know she is too busy on pager?
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The news report said:
Austin police say McAvoy text messaged her mother just minutes before the accident happened.

The 18-year-old said she was going to take a short cut down the railroad tracks to meet her mom at work.

"We believe she may have been sending text messages to friends and family as well during that time," Fugitt said.

That's a factor, police say, that could have kept her from noticing the train.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=157364
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Yes, it is very sad.

Unfortunately, teenagers are often "stupid" and careless; that is just the way they are. Then, accidents happen.
 
Reba said:
The news report said:
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I got it... Thank you for link...

She should not consider pager while she is on rail but keep her eyes to left and then right before cross the rail...

Very sad :( she has to die because she didn't ignore pager...
 
She should know with those rule like (look left and right before across the rail or roads) pager is not blame because she get the text with her mom, not that excuse. it just happens. i know she come to TX because of pageant starts now till june.
 
Ok...I wonder if she knew the dangers of crossing the railroads???? Did her parents tell her that it is very dangerous to cross the railroads? It is so important for the parents to teach their children to be aware of the dangers like do not drink and drive. My parents told me not to cross over the railroads -never!! I never lived near by the railroads but my parents still wanted to tell me to play it safe. And also, at the school for the deaf, they taught us NOT to cross over the railroads.

I am sooooooo afraid of the trains!!!!!!! I hate the trains because it is so huge and goes very fast and it's very heavy. That's why I am so afraid of the trains. So, that's why the girl who got killed by a train really upsetted me so much. She was too young to die!! And yeah, she was so beautiful! Oh no!!

Ok, this is enough for me to talk about this.

Try to have a good day!! :)
 
Momoftwo said:
Ok...I wonder if she knew the dangers of crossing the railroads???? Did her parents tell her that it is very dangerous to cross the railroads? It is so important for the parents to teach their children to be aware of the dangers like do not drink and drive. My parents told me not to cross over the railroads -never!! I never lived near by the railroads but my parents still wanted to tell me to play it safe. And also, at the school for the deaf, they taught us NOT to cross over the railroads.

I am sooooooo afraid of the trains!!!!!!! I hate the trains because it is so huge and goes very fast and it's very heavy. That's why I am so afraid of the trains. So, that's why the girl who got killed by a train really upsetted me so much. She was too young to die!! And yeah, she was so beautiful! Oh no!!

Ok, this is enough for me to talk about this.

Try to have a good day!! :)
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I thought the same as you...

I teach my children to not cross the rail because they are very very very dangerous. We NEVER NEVER NEVER cross over the country rail without signal but rail with signal..yes... I teach my children to look at red signal until green then cross...
 
I am sorry but I used to take VRE (communter Train) to work everyday. It is very loud and you can feel yourself vibrate from the engine running from the train.

My guts tell me it has to do w suicide.
 
downing said:
I am sorry but I used to take VRE (communter Train) to work everyday. It is very loud and you can feel yourself vibrate from the engine running from the train.

My guts tell me it has to do w suicide.
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No because If she wanted to commit suicide then she would have gone right in the middle of an incoming train so I don't think she commited suicide.

Tara was walking to the side of the train tracks. The train still got her.
 
Heath said:
No because If she wanted to commit suicide then she would have gone right in the middle of an incoming train so I don't think she commited suicide.

Tara was walking to the side of the train tracks. The train still got her.
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How do you know? You won't know the answer. We all won't know the answer whether or not she committed suicide. Only God knows. You don't know the girl's personal life. I don't know this girl's personal life.
 
Why don't you ask the railroader who works on trains EVERYDAY!

I can't feel a train until it is actually going by. Especially at hight speeds, you don't feel it. You can, if you're hearing, hear the rails "sing" to you about 30 seconds, maybe less, before it comes. That is it. With todays continuous welded rail, it is harder to feel and hear the trains.

For all those that say suicide, she would be standing in the middle of the track if it was suicide, not just outside the track. That is how people commit suicide by train. I have talked to people that have experienced it. OR, they lay with their head across the rail. She was walking away from the train.

Don't make these accusations if you don't know they are true. Base everything on the FACTS. She Texted her mom, saying she was taking a shortcut (very illegal shortcut) down the railroad tracks.
 
Some update news
she was using a pager on tracks

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

Deaf beauty contest winner Tara McAvoy was walking along the railroad tracks from her Austin, Texas, home to her mother's workplace, text-messaging family and friends, 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. McAvoy was a 2005 graduate of the school, where she played sports and acted in theater.

"She was a beautiful, bright, young deaf woman," said Bugen.

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. (Watch as witnesses describe accident -- 1:33)

"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, said Austin Police Department detective David Fugitt. "We have information that she was text-messaging family and friends" at the time, he added.

A horn sounded, but "they weren't able to get a response" from her, Fugitt said.

"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 under way with Union Pacific and the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, Fugitt said. He said the Austin Police Department was awaiting information from Union Pacific on how fast the train, with its 24 cars and two engines, was going.

McAvoy's funeral is set for Saturday morning in Austin.

In addition to her schooling at the Texas School for the Deaf, McAvoy briefly attended the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, which is affiliated with Gallaudet University, in Washington. A profile on its Web site said McAvoy was class president, a cheerleader, on the prom committee and played basketball.

"She will be sorely missed," said Laura Loeb-Hill, director of the Miss Deaf Texas Pageant, in an e-mail Wednesday. "Tara represented Texas with dignity and pride."
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prostock19 said:
She Texted her mom, saying she was taking a shortcut (very illegal shortcut) down the railroad tracks.
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Minor thread hijack here. How does that work legally? Does the railroad own the space on either side of the track? Are you trespassing if you walk next to the tracks? Is this ever really enforced? I’ve seen hundreds of people in my life walking next to railroad tracks. I’ve done it myself a few times. If you’re not actually wandering around inside a rail yard, can you actually be arrested for this?
 
Liebling:-))) said:
I got it... Thank you for link...

She should not consider pager while she is on rail but keep her eyes to left and then right before cross the rail...

Very sad :( she has to die because she didn't ignore pager...
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Yeah, that's a horrible waste. Sorry about that.
 
Levonian said:
Minor thread hijack here. How does that work legally? Does the railroad own the space on either side of the track? Are you trespassing if you walk next to the tracks? Is this ever really enforced? I’ve seen hundreds of people in my life walking next to railroad tracks. I’ve done it myself a few times. If you’re not actually wandering around inside a rail yard, can you actually be arrested for this?
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Railroad Right of Way is private property. If you are walking within 10 to 15 feet of the tracks, most likely you are trespassing on RR property. As for enforcement, there is not enough RR police out there to enforce it. Train crews are suppose to report any trespassers, but we mostly just report the suspicious or ones that seem under the influence. But if you're caught trespassing by RR police, there are fines to be paid. The big thing, it's dangerous. We had some kids play chicken with our train and put the train in full service braking (just short of emergency) and we stopped about 1/3 mile past where they were...that was going about 35 to 40mph uphill.
 
Sorry to hear about her death. Hope there wont be next victim.

Yeah Prostock.. My uncle used to work in Cartersville.
 
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