(The Associated Press circulated the following article on February 24.)
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Public Service Commission wants the federal government to do something about the alarming number of crashes at railroad crossing in Louisiana.
The PSC voted Wednesday to send a resolution to Congress asking the federal government to address the issue.
Six people have been killed in two wrecks with trains since Feb. 17. Both wrecks occurred at Tangipahoa Parish intersections marked with railway-crossing signs but no automatic gates to stop vehicles when trains approach.
Commissioner Foster Campbell said the technology used to warn speeders about police could be adapted to warn motorists of oncoming trains. He pushed a resolution that asks Louisiana’s congressional delegation to do whatever is necessary to get the federal government to push automakers to begin installing those devices in vehicles.
Between 1996 and 2003, 154 people were killed and 792 others were injured at railroad-crossing crashes, according to statistics that the LSU Information Systems & Decision Sciences compiled for the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
“There has to be something we can do,” Campbell said.
U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, is as member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. His spokesman, Michael DiResto, said Wednesday the congressman was too busy to return calls about the PSC’s suggestion. But DiResto said Baker is “looking forward to reviewing their resolution.”
Campbell has called for the PSC to regulate railroads in Louisiana. He said legislation that would give the five members of the PSC the authority to regulate railroads in Louisiana is being drafted and will be introduced for consideration during the legislative session starting April 25.