(The Victorville Daily Press published the following story by Mike Cruz on its website on August 28.)
PHELAN, Calif. — As a thundering freight train approaches a crossing, it signals with a loud horn off in the distance.
As it gets closer, the railroad crossing lights begin to flash, and the bell rings to signal its arrival.
At some crossings, arms may even descend to block the roadway and prevent cars from passing. While most motorists stop, others drive around the crossing arms and try to beat the train.
To inform motorists about the potential for collisions with trains that can result in death, several law enforcement agencies joined forces with railway companies and an organization called Operation Lifesaver to increase awareness in Phelan on Tuesday.
The campaign, dubbed “Officer on a Train,” was designed to inform drivers about the consequences of ignoring rail crossing signals: a traffic ticket with an average $330 fine, injuries or even death, said Lt. Bart Belknap of the Phelan sheriff’s substation.
A special train ran the rail line between Phelan and Sheep Creek roads in Phelan, while California Highway Patrol officers and deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department watched railroad crossings to catch and warn drivers who ignored signals or tried to beat the train.
“Our intent is to inform the public about train safety,” Belknap said. “This is a concern out here.”
Union Pacific train engineer Dave Buse has seen vehicles and pedestrians collide with trains when they get impatient or don’t pay attention to the rail crossing signals.
The thing to remember, he warned, is that freight trains can weigh about 8,000 tons on average and travel at speeds of 50 to 60 mph. At that rate, it can take up to
11/2 miles to stop a train for something on the tracks, Buse said.
“If you can see them (on the tracks), it’s too late,” Buse said.
Some accident victims are motorists who get distracted or are not paying attention, including those using a cell phone or listening to a loud radio, said Frankie Ruiz, a train conductor at Union Pacific Railroad.
“If they go over the same crossing all the time, they feel like they know it,” Ruiz said. It’s that complacency that can cause accidents, he said.
If drivers saw the end result of a collision with a train ? a coroner retrieving body parts scattered over a large area or an engineer cleaning flesh out of the train’s mechanisms ? “it might make a difference in their behavior,” Buse said.
California was No. 1 in 2001 for rail-crossing fatalities nationwide. Of the 419 fatalities that occurred with vehicles at a railway crossing nationwide, 53 people were in California, according to the Federal Railway Administration.
Pedestrians didn’t fare much better. Seventy-four of the 508 pedestrian deaths at rail crossings occurred in California, according to the FRA.