Train Kills 2 Girls

I would like to comment about the horrible accident on Oct. 21 in which two toddlers lost their lives on train tracks in Upland (Oct. 22-24). As a father of young children I am saddened by the tragedy, but at the same time I fail to understand the Upland Police Department’s reaction. The mother was arrested after the incident and may be charged with felony child endangerment.

Do we really think that losing our babies is not the ultimate punishment but fines or jail time are? Or do we really believe that arresting a grieving parent will act as a deterrent to her or other parents? The facts are horrible enough to teach us all the right lesson. It is the guilt of our dead children’s tragedy we are going to bear for the rest of our lives, not the penalty of the law.

SOL SOFER

Yorba Linda

Bravo for your three consecutive front-page stories on the tragedy of the girls who died on the Metrorail tracks and the, shall we say, controversial arrest and eventual release of their mother. Reporter Tom Gorman (joined by Ken Ellingwood for one installment and a moving commentary by Shawn Hubler) gave us the many facets of a shattering event that will have lasting reverberations throughout California and, perhaps, the nation.

The next time Metrorail, or any other company, determines the cost of a fence to be “prohibitive” but puts one up anyway; the next time a person seeing a toddler walking alone stops to ask, “Where is your mommy?” and the next time someone seeing a child playing on a railroad track yells, “Get off!” those are the times the true impact of your stories will be felt.

PETER McWILLIAMS

Los Angeles

Metrolink is not at fault here. Is it expected to fence off the miles and miles of tracks? No. The fault lies with the mother.

There are childproof devices available at most hardware stores, for use throughout the home, as well as entryways. I use them now, out of fear of harm that could come to my children. As we all know, it only takes a few seconds for a possible disaster to strike.

WILLIE McNALLY

Simi Valley

A few words to Shawn Hubler: Our village did not let two children die. An irresponsible parent and a society that tolerates such lack of responsibility did. Since when is it, or has it been, the responsibility of the “village” (actually a euphemism for government) to raise our children? No amount of child welfare caseworkers, decent schools, better counseling or childproofed railroad tracks (huh?) would have saved these children.

Innocent children will continue to die as long as parents remain ignorant and irresponsible, and society continues to tolerate such behavior.

KEVIN D. SPEAKS

Pasadena

Railroad tracks are an attractive nuisance in our communities in Southern California.

The railroad track owners and train operators are responsible for safety measures on the tracks. They don’t want to spend the money to make their tracks safe, so they try to make safety education a replacement for safety measures. We are going to see more deaths until the track owners and the train operators are forced to be good neighbors and to make their operation a safe one.

JIM DODD

San Diego