Debunking Debunking Portland, Part 2

Linkie.

This article is all about how unsafe light rail is. I'll sum it up for you: People get hit by trains.

The article is misleading because it presents deaths per passenger miles. This leads the reader to believe it's the likelihood of dieing from riding the train.

All of their 19 deaths were people hit by the train, none were riding the train at the time. Some weren't even at the train station.

In the US, about 4,000 pedestrians are killed each year. About 600 cyclists as well. A larger city, like Sacramento, can expect to have over 100 pedestrian fatalities.


They should look a little harder. Trains do crash, but I'd bet you're less likely to die in a train crash (per mile) than in a car crash.