One reason why people walking along railway tracks get killed is that trains travelling at speed outrun their sound, which means that by the time you hear it, it’s virtually on top on you. An optical illusion happens. When you see a train coming, it looks as if it is travelling half as fast and is twice as far away as it really is. Train drivers say that it often takes more than one blast of the whistle to get the attention of the person on the track. But trains can’t stop the way cars can. Some freight trains can take almost a kilometre to stop.
There are many things in life that also outrun their sound, coming up on us sooner than we expected; which is why the Bible says: ‘Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.’ So, ‘Remember your Creator … before the days of trouble come…’