Medics work on a 26-year-old Santa Barbara man who struck by a southbound Amtrak train near Las Positas yesterday afternoon. Photo by Victor Maccharoli.
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Man hit by train while walking dogs
A 26-year-old Santa Barbara man was in critical condition last night after being struck by a southbound Amtrak train near Las Positas Road.
Authorities said the man, Micah Paul Ross, who lives nearby, was walking his dogs along the train tracks yesterday afternoon when he was hit.
“Without any warning, the train operator saw Ross cross the tracks immediately in front of the train …” a statement from the Santa Barbara Police Department said. According to the statement, the train was going 63 mph when the collision occurred.
Ross was walking two pit bulls, both of which were uninjured. When emergency crews arrived on the scene, Santa Barbara city fire Capt. Steve Espinoza said the dogs were guarding their injured owner.
Espinoza said Ross was semi-conscious when emergency crews arrived shortly after 2 p.m., and aside from a large piece of flesh missing from the man’s back, no other injuries were visible. However, the police statement said Ross suffered severe injuries to his pelvis, and was in the intensive care unit at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
The train was configured with the engine at the rear, meaning it might not have been as noisy as usual, the police statement noted. Noise from Highway 101, which runs along the tracks directly to the north, might also have contributed to the man not being able to hear the train.
Authorities gained access to the scene through a housing tract located along Modoc Road. Although the train tracks seemed relatively inaccessible in the area, graffiti covered many of the walls abutting the tracks.
John Boyd, whose home is located near where the accident occurred, said taggers regularly vandalize fences, but he’s never actually seen anyone loitering on the train tracks behind his home.
“Amtrak barrels through there at probably 50 mph,” he said. “Usually when I go back there there’s no one there.”
Comment on this article
On the TRacks huh... : 12/23/2009
Any one who is on the track should have a perfectly good reason.. Beside the illegal ones... Anyone who is a local knows that the tracks here are not a safe place .... beside the rape and drugs that go on there,, It against the law remember.... Good Luck to the hurt man.
A real local
On the tracks : 12/23/2009
Many people with Dogs walk the train tracks as a way to gtive their dogs a bit of freedom without having to navigate around other dogs. I know this man. He is active in dog rescue, and a wonderful humanitarian!
Pulling for him
Man Hit by Train... : 12/23/2009
The writer should know that there is only one track here so the word is "track" in the singular. This is a railroad, not "train tracks". We are all adults here and don't need the term best left to five-year-olds!
R. A. Ramsay
Trackmaster : 12/23/2009
You're acting juvenile for bringing something trivial like that up. Seriously? You're worried about correct terminology when the story is about one of our good citizens getting hit by a effing train!!! Insensitive D-bag. Best wishes to Mr. Ross.
U R.A. Troll
Another candidate : 12/23/2009
Another candidate for the Darwin awards . . .
Sam
: 12/23/2009
Accidents happen in life–no one is immune to them. I'm sure this man living near the tracks has been careful in the past. It was an ACCIDENT. Back off people with your insensitive and cruel comments. And what does the first poster mean by signing "A real local"?
Micah : 12/23/2009
Im praying for you Micah, with all my heart.
Miss you M! and the gwens.
Bug
Bad Train : 12/23/2009
I can't believe the train didn't know any better couldn't it see this is a good person? Good people are allowed to break the law, that train should have known better bad train, bad, bad. I hope the guy gets better.
Monkey Brains
: 12/23/2009
Micah is an amazing man. Those below with such negative thoughts wouldn't know. All of us love and are praying for you!
: 12/23/2009
These negative posters are probably the same people who cheered when the homeless mentally ill man ran in front of a train and committed suicide. They're missing a human conscience. Hope they find one some day. In the meantime, they could stop trying to poison the pool of public comment with their twisted, nasty thoughts.
: 12/23/2009
Is this aqrea properly posted as "no trespassing" and adequately fenced?
man hit while walking dogs : 12/24/2009
shite happens.
Micah is an extraordinary young man, I love him & hope the best for him.
These comments are simply rantings that are often cruel.
I don't know what happened; only Micah does. He'd do anything in the face of any threat to his dogs, stupid or not. oh well. That's life. You could die tomorrow stepping off the curb or getting sick.
All the best, Micah; we're ALL pulling for you.
Supporters are buying Vons gift cards for his family; contact the SB County shelter, where he works, if you want to help out.
And wish people cared about you as much as so many of us to about Micah.
man vs. train
: 12/24/2009
Prudent readers gather all pertinent facts prioir to voicing opinions and criticism. Wishing Mr. Ross a complete and speedy recovery.
On the tracks idiot : 12/24/2009
If you read the article with an ounce of effort you would have seen that he wasn't on the tracks, he cut across them. Him being NEAR the tracks, allbeit illegal, does in no way mean he was participating in any other illegal activity besides being near them, (i.e. rape, drugs, graffiti). I find it funny that in dire times like this people like you feel the need to point out that he shouldn't have been there in the first place. It happened, he's hurt, and the first thing you have to say is it's illegal. Get a grip, it doesn't serve him right that he got hit and you will probably never know the real reasons for him being there. Being a "real local" in no way qualifies you to speak for the community and if you were a real local you would know that, even though the tracks are dangerous and people know they aren't safe, alot of them still use paths close to them to walk dog's, jog, get to the beach, and to get places faster. If you actually wanted to wish the best of luck to "the hurt man", (who has a name, Micah, and if you cared at all you would have used), you would have said it from the start. Go talk politics and right and wrongs somewhere else. Leave the comment's to the people who know and love Micah, don't use it as a platform to say that's what you get.
On the tracks idiot...
"Silent" Trains?? : 12/25/2009
Most people assume they will hear a train as it approaches because trains are noisy. But, the sound waves created by a fast-moving train actually don't travel in front of the train, the sound waves travel to the side and behind the train. If we are in front of the train, we err when we assume the sound will reach us first.
I made that mistake once when I looked up and a train was almost upon me. I won't make that mistake again. An engineering friend explained why I didn't hear it.
Incorrect : 12/26/2009
Your "engineering friend" is absolutely incorrect. Sound waves emanate in a spherical wave pattern. They may not be as intense in all directions but they do in fact emanate in front of the train at the speed of sound plus, which at sea level is about 768 mph. I wish a quick recovery to the accident victim.
: 12/27/2009
Oops, my engineering friend was probably right, and I remember his explanation wrong. He probably did just say the sound can be quite minimal in front of the train. I remember him saying how much louder it is when a train is passing and has passed–that's very loud, but in front can be pretty quiet, because of the action of sound waves.
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