Train driver a hero?

[gingerjedi]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6399609.stm

Eh... Hero? I don't want to take anything away from the guy but surely he was just doing his job, how long does a train crash take? Did he have time to think sod this I'm outta' here?

It was the union who branded him a hero if I remember correctly, so if you are working away doing what you are supposed to be doing take heart knowing that you are a true hero!

[philip@wellwoodhoyle]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6399609.stm

Eh... Hero? I don't want to take anything away from the guy but surely he was just doing his job, how long does a train crash take? Did he have time to think sod this I'm outta' here?

It was the union who branded him a hero if I remember correctly, so if you are working away doing what you are supposed to be doing take heart knowing that you are a true hero!

Likewise, I don't want to take anything away from the guy, but his "hero status" is being over-stated here. Sir Richard Branson said he was a hero because of the way he "steered" the train after the derailing - well, trains don't have steering wheels and the drivers have no control over its direction, so it is impossible for him to steer it. The best he could do was apply the emergency brake and possibly a secondary braking device that may have been fitted (usually something like a system of dropping sand on the line to help increase friction between the wheels and rails), but the brake should apply automatically be taking his hand of the dead man's handle which is obviously basic human reaction to an emergency of this nature.

With the best will in the world, the best he could have done was to apply the emergency brakes as soon as he saw/realised there was a problem with the points. But, there is every chance he won't have seen the problem in advance as it was dark and the train was on a relatively sharp bend.

As for staying in his cab rather than running back along the train, he wouldn't have had time - it was all over in a matter of seconds. Not to mention the fact that in the Pendolino's, the cabs are one of the safest places to be and designed that way - in actual fact, the area behind the cab is, so I am told, a crumple zone designed to absorb any impact, so he stayed in the safest place to be.

So, let's not elevate him to hero status. But let's not detract from him and all the other high speed train drivers who do quite a demanding job, requiring a lot of training and technical knowledge, responsible for hundreds of lives every time they go to work. These modern trains are far more than press a button and go - they are computerised to state of the art level with satellite control.

[xoggoth]

Heroism is often illogical. What about that US marine last year who flung himself on to a grenade last year to save his fellows? It would have been more logical is to pick the fattest person in the dugout and flung him.

[Sockpuppet]

That would have been murder....or would it?

[BoredBloke]

I asked the very same question. Hero would have been if he had done something heroic. He didn't he stayed where he was and applied the brake. I guess that is pretty much what anybody else would have done.

[BrilloPad]

What is the difference between bravery and stupidity?

[Churchill]

What is the difference between bravery and stupidity?

A medal?

[John Galt]

What is the difference between bravery and stupidity?

If the gamble pays off you're a hero, if it doesn't you're stupid

[Bagpuss]

Ner bloody Heros, Ner, I'd hang the lot of 'em

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...99_gits203.jpg

[ZZZZ Snoozer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6399609.stm

Eh... Hero? I don't want to take anything away from the guy but surely he was just doing his job, how long does a train crash take? Did he have time to think sod this I'm outta' here?

It was the union who branded him a hero if I remember correctly, so if you are working away doing what you are supposed to be doing take heart knowing that you are a true hero!

To give him credit, the driver himself has said quite categorically that he is not a hero, so the "hero" stuff is as you say RMT hype.