(The following story by Ira Sather-Olson appeared on the Selma Enterprise website on September 10. L.W. Davidson is a member of BLET Division 126 in Bakersfield, Calif.)
SELMA, Calif. — A Union Pacific locomotive makes its way through Selma on a recent morning, whooshing through downtown and stopping just north of Manning Avenue.
The grinding and wheezing sounds of its engine fill the air as it comes to a halt. It reverses direction, heading southbound past Mountain View Avenue and toward Kingsburg’s Sun Maid factory. Lance Pearce, an officer with the Selma Police Department, waits inside the train’s cab. Each time he sees a vehicle or pedestrian violating a railroad crossing law, he calls it in to law enforcement officials staked out at various places on the ground.
Locomotive engineer Lee Davidson, who was at the controls that day, said he sees people chronically violating railroad safety laws.
“It’s an everyday thing, there’s not much you really can do,” he said.
Under an operation called CARE, short for Crossing Accident Reduction Enforcement, three officials with the Selma PD and four with the Union Pacific PD handed out 16 citations on the morning of Sept. 2.
“It was a very successful day,” said Pearce.
Drivers and pedestrians were cited for violating various railroad safety laws.
Overall, the aim of the operation — which lasted from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. — was to reduce accidents and educate the public about the dangers of rail crossings.
Specifically, officers were on the lookout for drivers who tried to proceed through a railroad crossing as the arms of the crossing were coming down. They were also on the lookout for motorists who stop on the railroad tracks, which can sometimes happen if traffic gets backed up on a particular street.
Pedestrians were also part of the sting, as officers looked for people illegally walking through railroad crossings or trespassing on railroad tracks.
In total, officials observed 53 violations of railroad crossing laws, Pearce said.
Of those violations, officers stopped 29 pedestrians and 13 drivers. Another 11 drivers got away, as officers were unable to catch and cite them.
And while Pearce said 16 citations were handed out to violators, he also said the rest of those stopped were given verbal warnings.
A man, Ramiro Rodriguez, 21, was also arrested and released on a citation during the operation. He was caught putting a nickel coin on the track, which counts as trespassing — a misdemeanor offense.
According to Police Chief Tom Whiteside, the Selma PD has not conducted this kind of railroad enforcement since 2004. At the time, it was estimated that the department nabbed around 10 code violators.
This same operation was held most recently in late May in Fresno. During their efforts there, authorities passed out 60 citations and had six vehicles towed.
Because of that recent operation in Fresno, the Selma PD decided it was time to revisit the program in Selma.
Steve Smith, a presenter with the Operation Lifesaver Safety Program, took part in the operation on Tuesday as an observer in the cab of the locomotive.
He said he’s been working on railroad safety enforcement efforts like this one since 1992. During each operation he’s been involved in, Smith said he sees at least one or more violations of railroad safety laws.
According to Ronald Abee, manager of operating practices for Union Pacific, these operations are an effective tool to educate citizens.
Abee, like Smith, was riding in the locomotive cab on Tuesday morning, observing the scene and keeping an eye out for violators.
“It keeps the public informed,” he said. “It brings an awareness of the seriousness, as far as safety… with crossings, with being around tracks (and) crossing tracks.”
At the end of the sting, Pearce said the operation went well, considering the short amount of time they had as well as the number of officers out in the field.
“Our campaign was highly successful,” he said. “It shows a stronger need for further campaigns and a much tighter focus… (in the future) we’re going to focus more on railroad crossings and violations with pedestrians.”