| Updated: 2/25/2009 7:13 pm |
Published: 2/25/2009 6:52 pm
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(Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:00 pm by Kaci Christian, FOX23.com, Tulsa OK) – When you’re in a hurry, seeing that railroad crossing arm on its way down may spur you to just step on it to beat the train. But it’s just that kind of behavior that leads to nine out of ten railroad crossing accidents. FOX 23’s Kaci Christian has more on why many drivers take their chances and what police are doing about it.
“Just the single locomotive, the front engine at the front of a train, weighs 412,000 pounds,” reports FOX 23’s Kaci Christian. “And you think you’re going to beat that train? Let me put it into perspective. If a locomotive hits a car on the train tracks, that would be just like a car hitting a tin can.”
So why do drivers decide to make that mad dash to the other side, when deadly crashes can result when trains collide with cars?
“They don’t have the patience to wait,” says Amy Swimmer, waiting for the train to move on at a railroad crossing.
“Common sense tells you, you don’t try and beat a train,” says Ellen Capehart, even though she’s driving a bright yellow Ford Mustang.
“It takes an idiot to try and dodge a train,” growls Charles Sturm.
Sturm remembers one of the deadliest train accidents in Wagoner.
“They killed four kids at this intersection fifteen or twenty years ago,” Sturm recalls. “They had to pick ’em up in baskets. How many times do you have to teach people that kind of thing?”
“It’s one of those things,” Swimmer adds. “‘It’s not gonna happen to me.’”
But railroad crossing accidents happen all the time in Oklahoma, more than fifty times in 2008, and that figure doesn't include any incidents in December. Train engineers and conductors say drivers crossing the tracks need to understand the danger.
“They can run up to 50 miles per hour, is usually the speed limit,” explains Brady Igert, a train conductor with Union Pacific Railroad.
That may not sound very fast, but when you’ve got a 9,000-foot train, weighing 12,000 to 15,000 tons—
“Sometimes it takes a mile-and-a-half or two miles to bring that train to a complete stop,” adds train engineer, Donnie Howdeshell.
And seeing people try to dodge the gates—
“It’s nervewracking,” Igert admits. “I think what people don’t realize, there’s actually people up here. It’s not just a big yellow engine.”
In an effort to reduce the number of accidents, police are now riding the trains to observe drivers not following the rules, alerting nearby patrol officers who issue citations.
As far as being prepared to wait as a train crosses an intersection, Amy Swimmer is philosophical.
“Anything is an inconvenience if you have to stop and wait on it,” Swimmer says, “but that’s just life. You have to wait for things.”
“94% of all railroad crossing accidents are caused by risky driver behavior,” reports FOX 23’s Kaci Christian. “And the fine, if you’re observed by OHP [Oklahoma Highway Patrol] or a police officer for failing to follow the law, can be over $200. Reporting in Wagoner, Kaci Christian, FOX 23 News.”
Today, while Kaci was riding the rails, police issued 16 tickets to the tune of more than $2,500. That was during just five short trips through the town of Wagoner, in about an hour-and-a-half.
Here are some helpful links with additional information about how to being safe at a railway crossing—
http://www.nationalsafetycommission.com/alerts/2009/02/risky-driver-behavior-responsible-for.php
http://www.oli.org
