Not necessariliy. Given the circumstances and events that happened, it does not appear to be blatant suicide.

However, there are obvious issues going on in the girl's life. And most people agree that it it does not seem very likely to just get hit by a train. Considering that, I would not write her off as just a dumbass.

I have know several people that died in a way most of the posters on this board would consider stupid. In most of those cases, there was something much deeper that most people just did not know.

Perhaps sending text messages is just as distracting to a deaf person as it is a hearing person.

And thats why I don't use my text message's!

I really don't feel comfortable ever saying that someone died out of their own stupidity. Things happen, and sometimes when you least expect it. We all do stupid thing without thinking sometimes, and some people die because of those exact same things, yet we did not. I think it's always tragic when a person dies, even in a way that could have been avoided. I didn't know the girl and don't know what the actual circumstances were, so I don't feel it's fair to judge the situation in such a crude way. So I voted #2.

I'm of the mind that it was a stupid, avoidable way to die. Darwin award for sure.

Well, I think this was just tragic.. Yeah it may have been stupid, but still, she got hit by a train. I dunno, that's not very funny to me I guess.

I used to walk along train tracks all the time when I was growing up, but there was never very many trains that went by. I don't think I ever met a train as I was walking along the tracks though. Actually now that I think about it, it was pretty stupid. Oh well.

Good lord, does there really need to be a thread about this? Talk about kicking someone while they're down.

I agree. This whole post is really sour and I encourage a mod to take note of it and deal with it as necessary. The fact is that an 18 year old girl died in a horrible way. Most of the responses in this post are truly tasteless. If there is an issue about a politicial figure then most people can accept mocking comments. If there is a post about a burgler doing something stupid, most people can accept mocking. However, comments about an 18 year old girl that got killed in a horrible way for reasons that may never be known is very very shitty.

Heh, the OP is a mod, so talk it over with him.

As Carno said, the OP was a mod. If you look around I think you may suspect that he was/is trying to make a point with the thread. Or at least that is what I was assuming. There have been a few news posts of late where there was someone going out in a fashion that perhaps one would call Darwinish. By posting it in this manner and asking the question he did, perhaps people will rethink the circumstances of some of these deaths.

Since it's been brought to attention that I myself, the OP, am a Moderator, I'll go ahead and just answer to this directly.

Thousands of people die every day. If you really want to go toe-to-toe for tragedy, here you go: A tragic death is an infant who dies from malnourishment, or lack of medical care, because they had the misfortune of being born into a poor family. A tragic death is an innocent person murdered due to an act of violence and rage. A tragic death is your mom, dad, wife, husband, son, daughter, brother, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend, fiancee, best friend, etc., being struck down in a random incident due to the stupidity of another, such as drunk driving. Those, and only when examined individually, are tragedies.

A person dying by no fault but their own, doing something completely avoidable and incredibly stupid- on top of the fact that certain personal limitations of theirs compound the stupidity of doing such a thing... in my opinion, is not a tragedy.

Avoidable 'accidents' you bring upon yourself are not accidents at all, they're unfortunate inevitabilities- if you do something mortally stupid enough, you will likely die from such actions, and that's all there is to it.

I'd also like to add that when i formed this thread, I did so with the utmost care for the personal feelings this issue may cause, specifically saying i'd punish people who made light of the situation. I don't believe anyone has made fun of this topic, and have only stated their opinions that she died in a stupid, avoidable way.

I'm sorry if something struck a cord- but this is the reality of life, and the world around all of us. It's not callous or uncaring, it's just the way it is.

I just re-read and saw that you, yourself, state that mocking the death of some people is ok, but this is not. Well that's bullshit. You can't have it both ways. To begin with, this isn't mockery- it's pointing out the careless stupidity of the person who died. At best, the mockery is invoking the Darwin Awards, and I may give you that- but if you say this is not ok and some others are, then you're really just passing moral judgment for us all to follow, and to that I say: Having morals = good... forcing your morals onto others = not so good.

"forcing your morals onto others = not so good"

Forcing morals is called "law", and it has its place. I didn't and can't force you to do jack. This entire thread is a mockery of someone's death, and it is tasteless.

Your reply is the reply of a flustered BS'er who has been called out.

I'm sorry you feel that way.

...enjoy that opinion. I'll be over here laughing at its absurdity. :)

First, this really has nothing to do with morals. It has to do with ethics. Completely different.

Also, I never commented that mocking a particular death is okay. I said people can accept certain situations. A child (yes, an 18 year old is still a child in the U.S.) getting killed in this way is not accepted easily by very many people unless your an extremist with a skewed perspective of reality.

Next, I want to comment on your attack on my comments. Let me say that such an action by someone in a somewhat authoritative is truely pathetic. It undermines any legitimate statement you could have made. A simple of "I'm sorry if the posted offended someone," followed by an explanation of the post would have been sufficient. However, a defense is ridiculous. Let me just say that you took the low road, and I wouldn't want you to aid in my community.

Finally, let me comment on your definition of a tragedy. You're comment mimics that of someone who has never really experienced reality. You can argue semantics for the rest of your life. However, death, even in negligence, can be just as tragic as the conditions you described. Just ask mothers who lost their children due to stupid things there kids did.

No, you're incorrect, an 18 year old is an adult, in every state of the US. To say otherwise shows the true bias that so transparently colors your speech and leads you to slander me.

A defense of my position is not ridiculous, it is merely upholding my opinion against your dissent of it. Also, I did not attack your comments- my tone and speech was only that of disagreement. I said nothing even remotely personal, let alone an "attack". Not to mention that I DID say I was sorry if something struck a cord with you- but YES, reality is that this happened, and it was stupid and avoidable. You can't argue that walking along railroad tracks isn't stupid, and you can't argue that the death wasn't avoidable. You just can't. Saying a person's death was stupid and avoidable is not mocking them. It's pointing out the obvious.

The point of the thread was that some people, perhaps people like yourself, take upon their shoulders the weight of every even slightly significant death to grace their awareness. They put psychological monuments up to the death of a person whom they've never met, and for random reasons. People unnecessarily burden themselves with the deaths they perceive around them, assigning them some incredible level of importance even as the death itself was a display in stupidity.

So the general tone of your post is that I'm an asshole- some callous, heartless bastard who has "never really experienced reality" (whatever that means)... but in your mind, i'm going to get a fair and accurate appraisal of the term "tragedy" from a parent who has lost a child?

Yeah. Right. Ok. You keep thinking that. I'm kinda on the fence about abortion, maybe i'll go to a pro-life meeting and see what they think, just so i can get a fair and useful opinion. /sarcasm

Suggesting the answer to your assertion can be found in such a horrendously biased source is insulting to me.

My point is that this girl died a stupid, avoidable death. She did something extremely dangerous and foolish and SURPRISE she died, but is receiving tears of extreme sympathy from all kinds of people, being heralded as such a great girl, etc. She was one of about 1,500 deaths that day, statistically (just in the US alone, mind you), but gets all kinds of press and whatnot as her death being a tragedy. Her death was not a tragedy, not an accident- it was just another death that day.

I vote darwin awards! I've never done something so stupid and I can both see and hear