A night out turns fatal for this woman who dies in a freak accident!
A woman was travelling on a train and sticks her head out and gets hit by a tree branch, the injuries led to her death.
We all have fond memories of taking car/bus rides where we stick our heads out of the window and enjoy that feeling where the gush of wind literally takes your breath away. Can you relate?
We always see our dogs do it and they look so happy as the force of the wind causing them to close their eyes and when their tongues fly out with the wind, they really look like they are thoroughly enjoying the experience.
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Well, this story crashed that whole notion for us. A 28-year-old woman, Bethan Roper, went out with friends and they took the train home and everything took a turn for the worse when they were playing around with the window.
According to Metro, Mark Hamilton, an inspector with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, one of Bethan's friends had initially opened the train window and leaned out. "But around two and a half minutes after the train departed Bath Spa station Bethan leant out of the window and a few seconds later she fell backwards having sustained a serious head injury."
The investigators revealed that the only likely conclusion that they can come to, based on the evidence, is that Bethan's head came into contact with a tree branch that was growing on the railway infrastructure.
Bethan sustained serious head injuries and was declared dead by the ambulance when they arrived on the scene. This brought up an inquiry regarding access to the windows.
It was found that there was no physical feature that stopped passengers from opening the windows, which should be a safety and security measure.
It was later revealed that the train is an older model and these types of trains are getting phased out slowly, due to their old mechanisms.
Hamilton spoke about the warning signs that were in place and the fact that Bethan was obviously not phased by these. He said, "Our report has concluded the warning sign on display complied with the railway group standard that was in force at the time. However, the RAIB considers that wording, particularly the use of the word "caution", suggests that perhaps leaning out is something that may be done with a degree of care." (Metro)
However, the sign contained yellow and red, which traditionally gives off the sign of danger. So as much as it is unfortunate that Bethan had to lose her life to such a freak accident, it is true that we all should practise some sort of caution when it comes to sticking our heads out of any window...
Image Courtesy of Pixabay