BATON ROUGE — Louisiana had the second-highest number of injuries from car-train collisions in the nation last year and the fourth-highest death rate from them, according to statistics released Tuesday by state officials.
James Champagne, Louisiana Highway Safety Commission executive director, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the state continues to post high accident numbers despite recent educational campaigns aimed at reducing the problem.
“We continue (to be) in the top five in deaths and injuries and collisions,” he told a news conference called to launch a new railroad-crossing safety campaign. “We are not getting any better.”
Based on preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration, car-train fatalities in Louisiana increased to 22 last year compared with 14 in 2000. Injuries rose to 93 last year compared with 88 in 2000. Champagne said the number of car-train collisions was down slightly to 161 in 2001 compared with 181 the year before.
The number of collisions in 2001 put the state in fifth place nationally, Champagne said. The state was tied with Mississippi and Ohio for the fourth-highest number of deaths at rail crossings and was in second place for injuries, behind Texas’ 132.
According to Federal Railroad Administration data, there were 3,233 car-train accidents in the United States last year, resulting in 421 deaths and 1,154 injuries.
Louisiana Operation Lifesaver, a safety organization that works to reduce train-car accidents, has launched a campaign with radio commercials featuring drivers and joggers who barely escaped injury or death in train collisions.
Betsey Williams, executive director of Operation Lifesaver, said the radio messages will air on 76 stations in rural and urban areas between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. The “Take Safety to Heart” campaign started Monday and will run through Oct. 4.
Williams said the ads will cost about $17,200 and will be aired more than 3,000 times. The money comes from the state Department of Transportation and Development, the safety commission, federal agencies and Operation Lifesaver.
Champagne said police officers at the city, parish and state levels need to issue more tickets when drivers race trains to intersections or drive around the gates when trains are approaching or passing.
He said he will ask police agencies to step up enforcement and district attorneys and judges to prosecute and seek stiff sentences for violators.
“No one is enforcing the law as a matter of priority,” Champagne said. “If we simply pay attention at a rail crossing, this can be prevented. You are not going to win in a crash with a train. It is not the railroad’s fault. It is the driver’s fault. We do not yield. We do not stop at railroad crossings. We do not look both ways. We are continuing to practice stupidity when it comes to railroad crossings.”