(The following article by Chris Togneri was posted on the Modesto Bee website on August 19.)
MODESTO, Calif. — In front of an ACE commuter train station in Stockton on Wednesday, David drove his ChevyVan slowly up to the train crossing on Weber Avenue.
The red warning lights started to flash and the barriers began to lower. Instead of waiting for the train to pass, David accelerated.
He made it across safely. But Union Pacific police officer Blair Geddes was watching.
So were two dozen other police officers from the Northern San Joaquin Valley. They were part of Operation Lifesaver, a sting operation in which police board a train equipped with a camera and — with the aid of patrols on the street — nab train-crossing law breakers.
“Did you see that?” Geddes said. “He took off when the gates were already going down. That’s no good.”
While David made it across the tracks, the 48-year-old Stockton man didn’t escape Operation Lifesaver. Three blocks away, another Union Pacific officer pulled him over and issued a ticket. The fine — $271.
It’s never safe to cross train tracks when the red lights start flashing, let alone when the warning barriers lower, officers said.
Every 100 minutes, somebody in the United States dies from train impact, whether the person is in a car that is struck by the train or walking too close to the tracks, said Manteca police spokesman Rex Osborn.
In March, a woman was killed when she quickly drove her car around railroad crossing safety gates in northeast Modesto.
Statewide, 116 people died in train accidents last year, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. This year, there have been 46 fatalities.
Six drivers were cited during the three-hour police operation, as were eight pedestrians. Police issued warnings to five drivers and two pedestrians.
Officers from Union Pacific, Amtrak, Manteca, Modesto, Escalon, Ripon, Lathrop and Stockton took part in the operation.
Union Pacific and Amtrak police officers cite people for illegal track crossings every day, said Geddes. But officers from area police departments were there to watch and learn, so they can better enforce the law in their towns.
By educating those officers, said Capt. James Martino of the Amtrak police, it is hoped that residents will learn the rules as well.
“The bottom line is to get people to stay away from the tracks,” he said. “Every one of these gate runners is a potential fatality.”
Other points of concern, said Osborn: suicide attempts, kids throwing rocks at trains and debris left on the tracks.
“You get everything from shopping carts to abandoned cars,” he said.
Trespassing is also a problem, especially with children who cross tracks on foot in search of shortcuts.
But Martino wants them to know that it is illegal to be within 20 feet of a train track, except at street crossings — “It’s private property,” he said, “and so it’s illegal to be there.”
Then there’s the old practice of placing a coin on the tracks to see it get distorted from the pressure.
A harmless child’s game? Not at all, said Osborn and Martino.
“The wheels shoot that dime or penny out just like a bullet,” Osborn said. “It’s the luck of the penny where it hits.”
In Washington state, Amtrak has a “presenter” — a volunteer who speaks to groups about train safety — who as a child left a penny on the tracks, Martino said.
“It shot out and hit her right in the eye,” he said, injuring her seriously.
Officers warned that Operation Lifesaver soon may come to your town.
Manteca conducts stings every year, said Osborn. Last year, police issued 74 citations in three hours.
In Escalon, a town already known for its heavy train traffic, volume is expected to get worse, said police officer David Armendariz.
“Over the next two to three years, due to changes in trafficking, we’re expecting to see 80 trains through Escalon a day,” he said.
“It is very important to go to the city, spread the safety information to the community, to the schools,” Armendariz said. “It is important to understand the laws, how we can enforce them.”