"With all the attention teen deaths on the Caltrain tracks are getting, this fact might surprise you. In 2023, 19 people died on the tracks in 2024. Only three of them were teenagers. That's 15.7% of the total number of deaths. And we don't know how many of those deaths in 2024 were suicides. However, the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University looked at the 193 Caltrain fatalities between August 1992 and December 2009, and found that 64% were suicides."
"Worst cities Of the cities along the 51-mile Caltrain corridor between San Jose and San Francisco, Palo Alto didn't have the most deaths, although you'd think so given the focus on teen suicides in that city. Redwood City, with four deaths, had the most fatalities in 2024. San Mateo, Menlo Park and Palo Alto each had three. Mountain View had just two. And San Carlos, Belmont, South San Francisco and Sunnyvale had one a piece."
"No evidence of copycats A look at the timeline of the 19 deaths in 2024 debunks the "copycat" theory, which holds that victims read or hear about a suicide and then decide to kill themselves. In 2024, there was only one instance where one death followed another death by less than five days. As I said earlier, none of this is meant to diminish the loss families experience when a loved one dies."
Nineteen people died on Caltrain tracks in 2024, with only three victims identified as teenagers (15.7%). Historical analysis of 193 Caltrain fatalities from 1992–2009 found 64% were suicides. Among 2024 victims, five were ages 40–49 and five were ages 20–29. Redwood City had the most fatalities in 2024 with four; San Mateo, Menlo Park and Palo Alto each had three; Mountain View had two; San Carlos, Belmont, South San Francisco and Sunnyvale had one each. Timeline analysis shows only one instance of two deaths occurring within five days, providing no clear evidence of a copycat pattern.
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