BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Caltrain is no longer providing details about people who are hit by the train, keeping any suicides under wraps.
Caltrain employees made the change to prevent any copycat suicides, spokesman Dan Lieberman said.
Lieberman told the Post about the change on Thursday night, after someone was hit by a Caltrain in Redwood City and taken to the hospital. Caltrain used to give a timeline of the strikes, the number of people who were on board and whether anyone else was injured.
But on Thursday the agency posted an update on social media, “709 experiencing delays due to police activity in Redwood City,” with no details about why the train was delayed.
Passengers were confused on social media until someone posted a video from the train showing paramedics with a stretcher.
Lieberman said Friday that the change has already led to a “sharp drop” in fatalities. Caltrain had two deaths in January, two deaths in February, three deaths in March and two deaths in April.
After the change, Caltrain had one death in May, zero deaths in June and one death in July, Lieberman said.
The Golden Gate Bridge District provided data to Caltrain that indicated that media coverage of suicides, even of the installation of suicide barriers, regularly lead to additional attempts, Lieberman said.
The change was never discussed by the Caltrain board nor announced to the public.
Redwood City Mayor Jeff Gee, who sits on the Caltrain board, said he supports the new policy after hearing from families of people who were killed by a Caltrain.
Caltrain doesn’t announce the name of the deceased, but Gee said family members hearing about a train strike before hearing from authorities makes the grieving process more difficult.
“The families and those that are in this mental state take priority, in my perspective, over the riders that are delayed on the train,” Gee said yesterday.
Gee said he hasn’t seen evidence of anyone dying by Caltrain after reading about another suicide on the tracks. But it’s difficult to know why people commit suicide after the fact, Gee said.
“I haven’t been able to talk to any of those people,” he said.
The Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University did a study on 193 Caltrain fatalities between August 1992 and December 2009, trying to find any patterns.
The study found that Caltrain deaths stayed around 10 a year, and there wasn’t any particular hot spot along the tracks.
“The factors that cause suicides are external to the system,” said the study, led by professor Jan Botha.
The study counted 123 suicides and 70 unintended deaths, from issues like cars stalling on the tracks, drivers going around gates or pedestrians crossing where they aren’t supposed to.
That means 64% of the deaths along the tracks are suicides.
Caltrain won’t be giving details about any deaths until an investigation is complete, “given that the majority of incidents are determined to be intentional,” Lieberman said.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and a long list of public health organizations have created guidelines for reporting on suicides.
“Covering suicide carefully can change perceptions, dispel myths and inform the public on the complexities of the issue,” the guidelines state.
Stories on suicide can tell people that resources are available, like the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, the guidelines state.
Caltrain deaths in the last three years — by date and city:
2022
Feb. 14 — Mountain View
Feb. 22 — San Mateo
Feb. 25 — San Bruno
March 18 — Menlo Park
March 21 — Mountain View
July 23 — Palo Alto
Aug. 4 — Santa Clara
Nov. 23 — San Mateo
Nov. 26 — San Francisco
Dec. 1 — Burlingame
2023
Jan. 18 — San Francisco
April 16 — Palo Alto
July 6 — Mountain View
July 6 — Palo Alto
July 14 — Stanford
July 22 — Santa Clara
Aug. 4 — San Francisco
Aug. 8 — Redwood City
Aug. 22 — Belmont
Sept. 4 — Redwood City
Oct. 10 — San Jose
Nov. 8 — Burlingame
Nov. 24 — Redwood City
Nov. 25 — Brisbane
Dec. 12 — San Francisco
2024
Jan. 3 — Burlingame
Jan. 18 — San Mateo
Jan. 25 — Palo Alto
Feb. 13 — San Mateo
Feb. 20 — Palo Alto
March 1 — Atherton
March 12 — Redwood City
March 29 — Atherton
April 7 — San Carlos
April 12 — Palo Alto
April 15 — San Martin
May 12 — Sam Mateo
July 1 — Not disclosed
