(The following story by David DeMille appeared on The Spectrum website on May 16. A.G. Schow and M.A. Tillery are members of BLET Division 681 in Milford, Utah.)
CEDAR CITY, Utah — Cedar City residents received a not-so-subtle reminder about traffic laws concerning railroad crossings Thursday as local law enforcement officers handed out tickets to dozens of drivers during a training exercise.
As part of Operation Life-saver, a program committed to improving awareness and safety along railways, members of the Utah Highway Patrol, Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar City Police Department and Union Pacific Railroad Police Department parked along Highway 56 on the west side of town as Union Pacific rail operators moved a small train back and forth across the highway.
Each time a vehicle failed to stop for the flashing rail lights or drove off before the lights stopped, a law enforcement official was there to hand out a ticket worth at least $82.
In only 2 1/2 hours, 32 drivers were cited, and four others warned.
“I think a lot of people let it slip their mind, and a lot of people just aren’t paying attention,” said Cedar City Police Officer Tyson Fisher, who said he sometimes had his pick on whom to pull over.
The exercise might not have been fun for those who received tickets, but officials say it is worth it to make people more aware of the danger train crossings present.
According to Operation Lifesaver statistics, a vehicle or pedestrian is involved in a collision with a train every two hours in the U.S. and nearly half of those accidents occur at crossings with active warning devices, such as the flashing lights along Highway 56.
“The biggest problem is they’re just not paying attention,” said Alan Schow, who was operating the train during the exercise.
An engineer and train operator for 32 years, Schow said accidents happen when people are talking on cell phones or eating or doing anything but paying attention to the road.
“How can you not notice something this big?” he said. “But they do. It happens every day.”
And when a train that weighs hundreds of tons hits a car, the result is often fatal. A motorist is 40 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a crash with another vehicle, according to Operation Lifesaver statistics.
Matt Tillery, with Union Pacific, served as the brakeman during the exercise and said people don’t think about how dangerous trains can be.
“When you’re hauling coal in one of these things it can take two miles to stop,” he said. “It’s not like a car.”
Rick Thornton, a special agent with the UP police department, said with the iron mines about to open and with continued growth in the area on the west side of town, officials expect train traffic to pick up in the Cedar City area, making crossing safety even more important.
“The whole goal is to raise public awareness,” he said.