Tragedy struck Grand Junction last Thursday morning. On 2311 River Road a bicyclist was hit by an oncoming train and pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Grand Junction Police Department, the man was crossing the tracks on his bike. The GJPD believes that the accident did not occur at the railroad crossing, but they are still trying to figure out what happened.  Until then all they’re saying about the victim is that he was an adult man. Every year in the U.S alone there are more than 100 railroad collisions a day and over 3,000 people die because of this yearly. Why are railroad accidents so common? Well, a lot of people don’t know. It could be that the warning gates didn’t go down or blink or that someone was crossing the tracks in an unprotected area, not paying attention. Palisade student Kate Fricke stated, “it’s sad really, I don’t know how it happens. People need to start paying more attention to their surroundings.” Train collisions are scary and many should be more cautious when crossing the tracks. Things like this happen here once or sometimes even twice a year, and it always affects the community. At times like this, we just all need to be there for each other because we don’t know who this affects. All and all this is sad news for us. Even if we know the name of the man or not. He still used to be a part of the grand junction.