[Strategerist]

I'd be curious to see the number of train derailments/accidents in the United States since 9/11 and compare that number to the number of train accidents in the same time period (roughly 3 years) prior. There was a derailment in California recently and our S-3 observed that, to him, it seemed as if the number of train mishaps has increased.

If you do a search I believe there are many threads from approximately 1 year ago during a frenzy over derailments, and a few people actually did sit down and run the numbers, and there had been no increase in train derailments since 9-11.

The same is also true of industrial accidents and explosions. Both derailments and industrial accidents are far more likely to make national wires and get posted on FR since 9/11; there hasn't been any actual increase in numbers. Another thing that happens is if there's a major derailment or industrial accident, then people are far more likely to post minor derailments or accidents that they find in local newspapers and the like on FR that occur in the weeks following, creating the illusion of some sort of uptick in numbers.

[Gucho]

"There is no terrorist threat, there is no terrorist threat" - Michael Moore.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Tell that to Madrid and Moscow and London...