The American Spectator

/p> p>A hundred years ago, someone jumping in front of a trolley more likely than not would have been scooped up clear of the rails and held secure until the trolley stopped. People catchers were on San Francisco streetcars well into the '50s. It should be only a trivial engineering problem to design a people catcher that would be effective at the speeds entering a station, and with modern materials and design tools, successful people catches at far higher speeds might be possible. It is not done, because some people have decided to make absolutely no attempt other than forbidding people jumping on the tracks to resolve this problem. I wonder why. If I, in the operation of my business, were to make no attempt to reduce the hazard associated with my machinery I would damn soon be sued out of business. Transit, alas, will not even try to save lives. br> — Walter E. Wallis , P.E. br> Palo Alto, California br> /p>