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Monday, December 05, 2005 

Sun-watch: Asking the bleeding obvious.



Because they did something silly and stupid, that's why. Not to sound cruel or uncompassionate, but these girls crossed a railway line when the signal was that a train was coming. More than that, it was travelling at 70mph, not at 100 or more as some trains do. They could, and should have seen it. However, as people increasingly look to blame others for their own mistakes, it is the rail authorities and government which increasingly gets it in the neck.

The Guardian covers the story in a less histrionic fashion, and does suggest that the accident could and should have been prevented by a better safety scheme, such as an overpass across the track. It doesn't take away from the facts that the girls still should not have attempted to cross the track, even if the theory that they thought the warnings were for the train they wanted to board is correct or not. The Sun's front page suggests that others are culpable. From a newspaper that considers itself an enemy of political correctness, it is highly hypocritical for it to suggest that the girls' deaths are anyone else's fault. Consider a similar story: someone walks too close to the edge of a cliff, slips and falls down. His family then blame the local authority for not putting up a fence or signs warning of the dangers. Who would you agree with?

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