What is it like working for CSX as a track worker?

What would you do in this hypothetical "life or death" situation? (hypothetical moral choice problem)?

• Hypothetical situation: You a a trolley driver. You are going about 70 miles an hour when your brakes stop working. Up ahead on the tracks, there is a group of 5 workers with their backs towards you and they are working with jackhammers, so they can't hear or see you. There is no way of alerting them, and they will all die if they are hit. However, you see a different track. There is one worker on that track. You can make the decision to move to that track, knowing that that one worker will certainly die. Technicalities: There is no way of warning any of the workers, they cannot see or hear you There is no way for one of the workers to see you If a person is hit, they will die There is time for you to make this decision (it's a hypothetical situation) If you choose to switch, the switch will be successful You will not die in any choice So what do you choose? Relinquish all control you have and hit the 5 men or take control of the car and kill the 1 man? (This may seem like an obvious answer, I thought it was obvious too, but consider the fact that afterwards you can either say you accidentally killed the 5 men, but if you switch, then you consciously killed that one man)

• Answer:

  very hard to answer I know this may not be a choice but I would jump off and try my best to get to all the people and scream and get them to move. I don't know if that is something you are looking for, but I am unsure that I could actually choose I could not look at the people and know "well they are going to die" But if I had to choose I would proabaly let the train make the decision I could live with myself knowing it was an accident but I could not live with myself if I knew I made the choice to kill someone.