SACRAMENTO, Calif. - (Business Wire) The red lights are flashing and the warning bells are sounding, the crossing gates are coming down and a 6,000 ton locomotive is speeding toward a vehicle at 55 miles per hour. The train horn blares, but unfortunately the driver, who made the careless choice to try to beat the train, is completely unaware and is about to become just another statistic. Nationwide, deadly or near-fatal highway-rail grade incidents occur every 120 minutes on railroad lines as a result of an inattentive driver or pedestrian. California leads the nation in these highway-rail grade incidents. Since 2007, California has reported 162 highway-rail grade accidents, 122 of which resulted in pedestrian fatalities. Within California there are more than 11,000 public rail grade crossings located in 52 counties and 400 cities across the state. In response to the excessive number of fatalities, the California Department of Transportation/Amtrak California is tackling the issue by being the first state agency to promote rail safety through a public education campaign.
“Many lives are lost to railroad collisions each year,” said Caltrans Director, Randy Iwasaki. “It is our job to make sure that California residents know the irreversible and devastating consequences of what can happen at railroad crossings and how these tragedies can be avoided.”
Earlier this year, California legislators passed a bill designating September as Railroad Safety Month. To help support this new bill, which was authored by Senator Carol Liu from Senate District 21, Caltrans is working with Operation Lifesaver, to help raise awareness about rail safety issues throughout the state. One current effort is through its recently launched statewide on-campus high school rail safety tour, “Respect the Rails,” which is taking place this year at 30 schools as part of a new pilot outreach program. These events, which are being held at schools with a close proximity to highway-rail grade crossings, will feature a dramatization of what happens when a driver disregards a railroad safety gate and collides with an oncoming train. Students will also have an opportunity to take a rail safety quiz to measure their knowledge and understanding of rail safety precautions. Students who answer all of the questions correctly will be entered into a statewide sweepstakes where they have a chance to win $5,000, which is sponsored by Caltrans' media partner, Clear Channel Media.
The tour, which launched on October 19 at Shasta High School in Redding, California, will continue into December of this year. Currently the tour has made a stop at 22 High Schools across California and has eight stops remaining, which include Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego counties. Caltrans anticipates expanding the tour to a larger number of high schools in the coming years.
As train ridership and freight traffic continue to grow, Caltrans and Operation Lifesaver want to make sure that all California residents are informed of railroad crossing dangers and have the awareness necessary to avoid becoming a future statistic.
Caltrans and Operation Lifesaver want to remind Californians to always practice caution when driving or traversing rail safety crossings, and have provided the following rail safety tips.
- Always expect a train at every railroad crossing intersection. Freight trains do not travel on a predictable schedule and schedules for passenger trains change.
- If there are rails on the railroad ties, assume that the track is in use, even if there are weeds or the track looks "rusty."
- Cross tracks ONLY at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings. Observe and obey all warning signs and signals.
- Modern trains are faster than ever, so that an approaching train will always be closer and moving faster than you think.
- Modern trains are quieter than ever, with no telltale "clackety-clack" sound. They can move in either direction at any time.
- Make sure to look both ways when crossing railroad tracks. If you see a train coming, don't try to 'beat' it, stay off the tracks.
- Never walk, bike, jog, or run down a train track; it's illegal and it's dangerous. By the time a locomotive engineer can see a person or a vehicle on the tracks, it is too late. The train cannot stop quickly enough to avoid an accident.
- Don't socialize or "hang out" on or near train tracks.
- Remember: Rail and recreation do not mix!
About California Department of Transportation
The Caltrans Division of Rail/Amtrak California provides service on three intercity rail corridors in California. Through a $80 million per year annual state operating assistance program and the largest capital assistance program in the nation, Caltrans supports service between the Bay Area and Sacramento on the Capitol Corridor, between San Francisco/Oakland and Bakersfield on the San Joaquin and, in Southern California, between San Diego and San Luis Obispo via Los Angeles and Santa Barbara on the Pacific Surfliner. The California Corridor, operated under the partnership banner with Caltrans, is the busiest in the nation behind the Washington - Boston Northeast corridor and the Empire corridor serving Albany - New York City
About Operation Lifesaver
Operation Lifesaver (OL) was established in 1972 to end collisions, deaths and injuries where roadways cross tracks and on railroad rights-of-way. OL programs are sponsored cooperatively by federal, state, and local government agencies; highway safety organizations, and the nation's railroads. Much of OL's success depends on a foundation of active volunteers from transportation, law enforcement, safety, health and educational professionals. If you'd like to volunteer or to get more information about California OL programs visit www.oli.org, call 1-877-TAP-CAOL (1-877-827-2265) or email them at info@caol.us.
Caltrans Division of Rail
Debbie Mullins, 916-804-2473
Debbie_Mullins@dot.ca.gov
or
Marycon Razo, 916-239-4610
mrazo@katzandassociates.com
