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==Legal consequences== |
==Legal consequences== |
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Because train wrecks usually cause widespread property damage as well as injury or death, the intentional wrecking of a train in regular service is often treated as an extremely serious [[crime]]. For example, in the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]], the penalty for intentionally causing a non-fatal train wreck is [[life imprisonment]] with the possibility of [[parole]].<ref>{{cite web| work=[[California Penal Code]]| title=Section 219| url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/217.1-219.3.html| accessdate=2007-08-17| }}</ref> For a fatal train wreck, the possible sentences are either life without the possibility of parole, or [[Capital punishment|death]]. |
Because train wrecks usually cause widespread property damage as well as injury or death, the intentional wrecking of a train in regular service is often treated as an extremely serious [[crime]]. For example, in the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]], the penalty for intentionally causing a non-fatal train wreck is [[life imprisonment]] with the possibility of [[parole]].<ref>{{cite web| work=[[California Penal Code]]| title=Section 219| url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/217.1-219.3.html| accessdate=2007-08-17| }}</ref> For a fatal train wreck, the possible sentences are either life without the possibility of parole, or [[Capital punishment|death]]. |
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==As metaphor== |
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The term is sometimes used [[metaphor]]ically to describe a disaster that is foreseeable but unavoidable. For example, former [[Speaker of the House]] [[Newt Gingrich]] has asserted that a [[government shutdown]] would be a "train wreck."<ref>{{cite web| author=Holman, Kwame| url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/november96/newtb_11-20.html| title=The State of Newt"| publisher=PBS| date=[[1996-11-20]]| accessdate=2007-08-17| }}</ref> |
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The term "train wreck" is also used metaphorically to describe something disastrous yet inevitable, or distasteful yet morbidly fascinating. "You don't want to stare, but you just can't look away" is a common summary of this phenomenon (this definition is used by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] in his song [[Jerry Springer (song)|Jerry Springer]]). |
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Often celebrities are branded 'trainwreck' in gossip blogs, due to evident bad behaviour: such as falling out of nightclubs, getting involved in violence, and drug abuse. Such celebrities have recently included [[Britney Spears]],<ref name="britney">{{cite news|url=http://www.theplasticsurgerychannel.com/breaking-news/britney-spears-breast-implants-may-be-no-more-6100.html|title=Britney Spears’ Breast Implants May Be No More|date=July 27, 2009|publisher=''[http://www.theplasticsurgerychannel.com/ The Plastic Surgery Channel]''|accessdate=August 1, 2009}}</ref> [[Lindsay Lohan]],<ref name="lohan">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2009/07/lindsay_lohans_obsession_hits.php|title=Lindsay Lohan's Obsession Hits Chop Suey Tomorrow|last=Hobart|first=Erika|date=July 27, 2009|publisher=''[[Seattle Weekly]]''|accessdate=August 1, 2009}}</ref> and [[Sarah Palin]].<ref name="palin">{{cite news|url=http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/09/1990633.aspx|title=GOP Watch: The Palin 'Train Wreck'?|last=Montanaro|first=Domenico|date=July 9, 2009|publisher=''[[MSNBC]]''|accessdate=August 1, 2009}}</ref> |
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==Other uses== |
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Trainwreck is also the name applied to a potent strain of marijuana ([[cannabis sativa]]).<ref>http://www.cannabis-seeds.co.uk/products/1079/trainwreck.html</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/fashion/sundaystyles/12POT.html | title = Medical Marijuana, a Casual User's Tale | last = Anderson | first = Lessley | date = June 12, 2005 | accessdate = 2009-02-09 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aVi6eu3oFtKE | title = Marijuana Clubs in San Francisco Unfazed by High Court's Ruling | publisher = [[Bloomberg.com]] | last = Gullo | first = Karen | date = June 7, 2005 | accessdate = 2009-02-09 }}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
Revision as of 05:40, 24 September 2009
A train wreck is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an accident, such as when a train wheel jumps off a track in a derailment; or when a boiler explosion occurs. Train wrecks have often been widely covered in popular media and in folklore.
Legal consequences
Because train wrecks usually cause widespread property damage as well as injury or death, the intentional wrecking of a train in regular service is often treated as an extremely serious crime. For example, in the U.S. state of California, the penalty for intentionally causing a non-fatal train wreck is life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.[1] For a fatal train wreck, the possible sentences are either life without the possibility of parole, or death.
See also
- List of rail accidents:
- Emergency management
- Crash at Crush Texas
- Category:Railroad accident victims
- Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train (metaphorical)
References
- ^ "Section 219". California Penal Code. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
{{cite web}}
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