Railroad Crossings, Markings, and fatalities

[Anonymous]

This article came out today in the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer. It demonstrates, at least in Alabama, who is responsible for marking railroad crossings appropriately:

Posted on Tue, Aug. 24, 2004



R E L A T E D L I N K S
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Deadly railroad crossing to get gates

Smiths Station Council approves DOT contract

BY ERIN SIMPSON

Staff Writer


It took a young girl's death to improve a dangerous intersection in Smiths Station.

Kelly Pierce, a 17-year-old Smiths Station High School student, was killed at the railroad crossing at the intersection of Lee roads 298 and 243 in April.

Her mom praised the Smiths Station City Council on Monday night for unanimously approving a contract with the Alabama Department of Transportation, which will install gates, bells and signals at the crossing.

Smiths Station Mayor LaFaye Dellinger said, "We just wish it could have been done earlier."

Kelly Pierce was on her way to church the morning of April 25, when a Norfolk Southern train collided with the Kia Sportage she was driving.

The only thing warning oncoming traffic at the crossing is the standard railroad crossbuck sign. Both roads will have signs and markings that a crossing is ahead, in addition to the improvements at the crossing itself.

"I'm just so glad that it's finally been done," Katherine Pierce said after the meeting. "It's something that's been needed for many, many years. It's a dangerous crossing."

According to the Federal Railroad Administration's Web site database, the crossing has had nine vehicle-train accidents between January 1975 and December 2003, which is the most recent data available. There were five injuries and one fatality to occupants of the vehicles.

Dellinger said state DOT officials had said it could take up to another year to install the crossing gates. The mayor said she has written letters to local legislators and the DOT. "I feel like that will speed it up," she said.

[WDGF]

QUOTE: (From the article)
The only thing warning oncoming traffic at the crossing is the standard railroad crossbuck sign.

...And really loud horns, flashing ditchlights, blinding headlights...

She says this is a really dangerous crossing, to which I would add "For those drivers who cannot be bothered to pay attention."

Okay, off my soapbox... sorry.
I'll never understand why anyone gets hit by a train.

[MP57313]

Not trying to be an insensitive clod, but you are right, if they noted it was a dangerous crossing you'd think the locals would be on the alert for trains