--- ---  # Senator Giving Talk About Train Safety Nearly Hit By Oncoming Irony by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 21, 2014 11:00 AM UTC  <> on March 27, 2014 in Washington, DC. <> on March 27, 2014 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 21, 2014 11:00 AM UTC Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal narrowly avoided getting hit by a train Friday during a press conference about why it’s important to keep yourself safe around trains. The politician was standing on the platform of a Metro-North station in Milford, Conn., while the town’s mayor, Ben Blake, spoke about commuter safety. “We have about 5,000 customers taking the trains each and every day. Safety, as you know, is paramount,” Blake said, just as a train whizzed by. It nearly took out the senator, who was standing _way_ too close to the edge of the platform. The train also nearly knocked over an easel that was holding a chart. About safety (Have we emphasized the irony enough yet?). As you can see in the video above, the senator is standing in the thick yellow line along the edge of the platform, which everyone knows is the exact place you are not supposed to stand. Come on, Senator. Please make better choices. Senator Richard Blumenthal Almost Hit By Train During Safety Talk ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/69636/senator-richard-blumenthal-train-safety/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/69636/senator-richard-blumenthal-train-safety/"},"headline":"Senator Giving Talk About Train Safety Nearly Hit By Oncoming Irony","datePublished":"2014-04-21T11:00:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:56.874Z","description":"Come on, man, practice what you preach","url":"https://time.com/69636/senator-richard-blumenthal-train-safety/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","U.S.","Politicians","Trains","safety"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2720ce5382b43465/69868b83810bbb19d3c9124e/480887637.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2720ce5382b43465/69868b83810bbb19d3c9124e/480887637.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dem. Senators Hold Press Conf. On Higher Minimum Wage For Small Businesses","caption":"Dem. Senators Hold Press Conf. On Higher Minimum Wage For Small Businesses","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/69636/senator-richard-blumenthal-train-safety/","name":"Senator Giving Talk About Train Safety Nearly Hit By Oncoming Irony"}}]}] ```