Whoa, here!! Ever been in an automobile accident? I would suspect that most of us have. Does that make you decide to quit driving or riding in automobiles? Ever fallen off a bicycle? Did you get back on?

Let's don't descend from rationality into paranoia. Regardless of those that go way off the deep end on precautions, life is uncertain. The perception of safety and security is just that, a perception. No matter what you do you can not protect yourself from all random events.

Yes, we should take reasonable safety precautions, but not to the point that the precautions exceed the benefits. There are certain times and places that I avoid driving because of the danger of drunks driving. I wear seatbelts in a car always, and have since before there was any law on it, because the benefits outweigh the minor inconvenience. Yet, I knew a man who would not wear a seatbelt because a friend of his burned in a car fire and the perception was that he could have been gotten out if the seatbelt had not held him. I am not particularly a fan of air bags becuase of the danger to small children. Here, I am not convinced that, if you had your seatbelt on, the benefit exceeds the danger.

Let's look at what happened: The train left the tracks at a speed of over 70 mph, several cars ended up on their sides and only one person was killed. Try that one with a bus or automobile. It speaks volumes for the strength and safety of the American railway passenger car.

Look at a plane crash. Usually everybody / most everybody dies. Look at a train wreck. Usually everybody / most everybody survives. Yet, I still get on a plane some 20 to 30 times a year.

We kill approximately 40,000 people a year in automobile accidents in the US, that is over 100 A DAY, and it is usually local news only. We kill one person in a train accident and it is international news. There is no rationality in reporting, only a search for the sensational.

Still one must acknowledge that American railcars are built tough. To see the cars completely intact after tumbling off a low bridge is a testament to their quality construction. Any other vehicle would be a blob of crumpled metal.

(That said, however, modern automobiles have made a lot of safety improvements with crumple zones and rigid passenger compartments, that many would protect their occupants quite well in a similar situation.)

However, when things really go haywire, the glass will not be enough. The major loss of life accident in Amtrak's history, in Mobile Bay should really be classified as a shipping accident since the cause was a completely lost towboat pilot ramming a bridge. In that case 42 people died, mostly by drowning.