From what I understand, the arm on that side of the street comes down on the opposite side of the tracks, and there are about 26 seconds between the arm coming down and the trolley passing.
IOW, the father may have already been on the tracks by the time the arm came down, and didn’t need to “ride around” the arm to be on the tracks.
Having walked around there with our three small kids, it’s very frightening (to this suburban mom) how many trolleys are passing on multiple tracks, within minutes or seconds of each other. It really freaked me out. I can understand how someone who was used to the trolleys and tracks might have had his guard down, or just had that brief moment of inattention that cost his daughter her life.
People who have kids die in accidents like that are in enough pain. I really don’t think it’s constructive to pile on the accusations. This guy will never get over this, and will always be aware of his involvement — however unintentional and accidental it was.
