(The following editorial appeared on the Enid News and Eagle website on September 20.)
ENID, Okla. — We’ve all been there before.
You’re driving along trying to get to your destination, and suddenly the lights at the railroad crossing start to flash and the gates come down.
You don’t want to wait. You have places to go, things to do.
So you take a look. The train isn’t on you yet; it’s still a little way down the track. If you hurry, there’s time for you to swing around the gate and beat the train.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it should work.
The fact is, if you are in your car, pickup or SUV and get into an accident with a train, the train is going to win. Period.
However, quite a few Enid residents seem to want to tempt fate.
Enid Police Department, working with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, on Tuesday had officers aboard a train that drove through Enid. When they saw people ignore the crossing barriers and signals, they contacted other officers in patrol cars nearby. Those officers stopped the people and issued citations for failure to stop at an activated crossing. The fine for such a violation is $144. It’s pretty telling they issued 25 such citations Tuesday.
We understand everyone has things to do. Everyone is busy, but is it worth risking your life?
It’s hard to accurately judge distances with trains, and we all need to remember trains can’t stop on a dime. It takes quite a bit of track to bring a train to a halt.
It’s better to be safe and follow the law when the lights come on and the gates come down. When a train is heading your way, it’s much better to wait than take a big risk.