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How does one become an advocate for railroad grade crossing safety? The first way is you have a child, spending all the wonderful years together. The holidays, birthdays, holding hands, going for walks, the hugs and kisses. Teaching them right from wrong, watching them grow up to become bright young adults. Finally on towards graduation, as you reflect on all those years together, knowing what a tremendous future they have ahead of them. GONE! In a split second one day because they went across a grade crossing. They wasn’t aware that the sight distance at this crossing gave them mere seconds to respond to a train approaching. They also wasn’t aware that the flashing light alignment is critical to give the driver advance warning of a train. They didn’t know that modern automobiles, due to the sound proofing, can make a train horn ineffective in giving advance warning of an approaching train. They knew nothing of the complexities of a crossing that can lead to driver confusion and distraction. The railroad and government has had this knowledge for over 25 years. <br /> The other way is to support the families that have had to suffer this unimaginable tragedy , by looking at the facts and history of the crossings while removing the bias that seems to prevail; “They were trying to beat the train”, “They were trying to kill themselves”. Would you say the same of your child if you didn’t know the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident? Does a crossing that has had 2 fatalities warrant some extra scrutiny and attention? Why does a crossing that has had 2 fatalities remain ungated with the flashing light and sight distance problems remaining? Who is going to take responsibililty for the ongoing deaths that keep occurring as result of these issues? Support the families by becoming informed and proactive in pursuing the answers to these questions. Contact your local, state and federal representatives and be sure to contact Terry Cantrell @ TDOT (1.615.741-1341 terry.Cantrell@state.tn.us ) who is working for us in assuring that these crossings meet the minimum federal requirements for safety. Ask why these problems remain. Ask them why the list of dangerous crossings in TN is not public information, do we not have the right to be aware of known dangerous crossings? Ask how and where the 5 million used for crossing improvements was used. Do not accept the typical answer that there is only so much money available to be used, a certain railroad company made a NET profit of over 400 million last year and will spend 43 million this year in TN for infrastructure improvements. The sole benefit of these infrastructure improvements is to maximize profit potential, not to improve the safety of there grade crossings. The “profit over life” mentality needs to be changed to a “the protection of life and giving the driver every available opportunity to cross safely at any cost” attitude. <br />
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