(The following story by Ashley Wiehle appeared on the News-Leader website on September 18. J.D. Stone is a retired member of BLET Division 83 in Springfield, Mo. Ronnie Coe is a member of BLET Division 578 in Tulsa, Okla.)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Crashes between cars and trains have declined in recent years, and law enforcement officials are trying to keep driving that number down.
A multi-agency enforcement effort Thursday was designed to catch people ignoring train safety laws –primarily, failing to stop when crossing lights are red or trespassing on the train track itself.
The effort resulted in only two warnings: One for trespassing in Verona and another for disobeying a traffic signal in Monett.
However, officials hope that a police presence at the crossings will serve as a reminder to drivers that railroad safety laws are in effect for a reason.
“It’s the easiest type of collision to prevent,” said J.D. “Buzz” Stone, a 36-year locomotive engineer who retired from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
“We want people using their heads around railroad track crossings.”
A massive train collision last week in California claimed the lives of 25 people, injured 138 more and brought train safety back onto the public radar.
Missouri ranked 12th in the country for highway rail crossing fatalities in 2007, according to the state chapter of Operation Lifesaver.
The state had 47 crashes at public train crossings in 2007, resulting in seven deaths and 20 serious injuries, Operation Lifesaver statistics indicate.
That figure represents a decrease from 58 crashes in 2006.
Still, it’s more crashes than engineers and law enforcement want to see.
Stone invited officers from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol to ride on a freight train Thursday morning from Springfield to Monett.
Police from eight agencies were stationed at crossings along the route to observe drivers.
Since it can take at least a mile to stop a train traveling at 55 miles per hour, it is incumbent upon the car or pedestrian to get out of the way.
“A mile in emergency braking is an eternity,” Stone said.
Even an experienced engineer can’t defy physics to stop a train.
On Thursday, BNSF engineer Ronnie Coe watched closely as a brown car made a fast approach to the upcoming crossing.
“He’s going to do it,” Coe said, guessing the car would speed over the tracks to try and beat the 80-car train as it approached with its horn blaring.
The car finally stopped to wait for the train, and Coe laughed.
“He thought about it,” he said.
Engineers, like Coe, hit their horn multiple times when approaching a crossing, but that doesn’t always stop drivers from darting in front of the train.
“People can’t judge how fast a train is going,” Coe said.
There were 13 incidents of Missouri trespassers on the tracks being hit by a train in 2007, four of which were fatal, according to Operation Lifesaver.
Trespassing fatalities nationwide far outnumber car-train collisions, Operation Lifesaver statistics show. In 2007, 299 people were killed in collisions, compared to 477 people who were killed trespassing on railroad equipment.
Stone teaches train safety to law enforcement officials around the region. He also talks to civic groups and schoolchildren about train safety.
It is a subject he knows intimately. In his long tenure as an engineer, he hit 13 vehicles and two pedestrians.
He describes it as the worst thing that can happen to an engineer.
“You hit a pedestrian, and that’s locomotive meeting bare flesh,” Stone said. “That messes with your head.”
Some technological advancements, such as crossing gates that physically block a vehicle, have made a dent in accidents.
“You can’t do that on accident,” said Captain Randall Beydler of the Missouri Highway Patrol. “You have to drive through those gates intentionally.”
More than anything, officials want drivers and pedestrians to use common sense and stay away from the track if a train is approaching.
“That guy did what he was supposed to do,” Beydler said, watching a truck stop for the train on an almost-deserted road.
“We’re a little bit bigger than he is,” Coe replied.