A train wreck most often occurs as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track, or an accident, such as when a train wheel jumps off a track in a derailment, or when a boiler explosion occurs.

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Legal consequences

Because train wrecks usually cause widespread property damage as well as injury or death, the intentional wrecking of a train in regular service is often treated as an extremely serious crime. For example, in the U.S. state of California, the penalty for intentionally causing a non-fatal train wreck is life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. ^[1] For a fatal train wreck, the possible sentences are either life without the possibility of parole, or death.

As metaphor

The term is sometimes used metaphorically to describe a disaster that is foreseeable but unavoidable. For example, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has asserted that a government shutdown would be a "train wreck." ^[2]

The term "train wreck" is also used metaphorically to describe something disastrous yet inevitable, or distasteful yet morbidly fascinating. "You don't want to stare, but you just can't look away" is a common summary of this phenomenon (this definition is used by "Weird Al" Yankovic in his song Jerry Springer).

Trainwreck is also the name of a potent strain of marijuana (cannabis sativa). ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Often celebrities are branded 'trainwreck' in gossip blogs, due to evident bad behaviour: falling out of nightclubs, getting involved in violence, drug abuse, etc. Such celebrities include Britney Spears, ^[6] Lindsay Lohan, ^[7] Sarah Palin, ^[8] David Hasselhoff, Kerry Katona, Amy Winehouse, Jazmyn Perin, ^[6]

See also

• List of rail accidents:

:*Rail accidents pre-1950

• Classification of railway accidents

:*Signal passed at danger

• Emergency management
• Crash at Crush Texas
• :Category:Railroad accident victims
• Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train (metaphorical)

References

1. Section 219
2. The State of Newt"
3. http://www.cannabis-seeds.co.uk/products/1079/trainwreck.html
4. Medical Marijuana, a Casual User's Tale
5. Marijuana Clubs in San Francisco Unfazed by High Court's Ruling
6. Britney Spears’ Breast Implants May Be No More
7. Lindsay Lohan's Obsession Hits Chop Suey Tomorrow
8. GOP Watch: The Palin 'Train Wreck'?
9. Britney Spears’ Breast Implants May Be No More