NEW YORK — When a firefighter died responding to an accident at the Oceanside railroad crossing in 1994, Rockville Centre volunteer fireman Matt Gelfand wanted to find a way to prevent similar tragedies, New York’s Newsday reported.
He didn’t know the firefighter – Joseph Jarvis, 54, of Oceanside, who was killed while directing traffic away from the accident, but Gelfand knew there had to be a safer way to protect the tracks.
So in his spare time, Gelfand devised a system involving a flexible but powerful net that would make crossings impenetrable.
The GRAB system, which stands for Ground Retractable Automobile Barrier, uses a Kevlar net raised from below the ground after the crossing gates come down to safely ensnare trucks and cars.
“I was at home watching the Discovery channel and they were showing World War II aircraft carriers that used nets to catch the planes out of theback end,” said Gelfand, 36. “That spurred the idea for some type of netting device at the crossings to work with the gates.”
The $200,000 system can be deployed to standing position in three seconds by two motors on each side of the net. Lowered, the machine is under the road surface so it can be driven over. It can be automatically or manually activated.
Tests by the Texas Transportation Institute, a non-profit transportation think tank, have shown the net can stop a vehicle safely without major damage to the vehicle or injuries to the occupant, Gelfand said.
“A Ford Geo Metro is going to hit the system at 45 mph and it stops it in 11 feet without breaking the headlights,” he said.
Gelfand received about $650,000 from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1998 for research and testing the product. He also hired an engineer to draw up design plans and added a couple of Rockville Centre firefighters as his partners.
The patented systems are manufactured in Charlottesville, Va., where Gelfand has since moved and based his com- pany, Universal Safety Response Inc.
Long Island Rail Road officials said they are closely watching how the system performs and tests.
“As the system is being tested we will monitor its progress carefully to see how it can help improve safety,” LIRR spokesman Brian Dolan said.
In addition to protecting crossings, Gelfand said the system has security applications as well. The first machine will be installed in about three weeks at the entrance of the Intrepid Sea Air and Space museum in Manhattan to block the entrance from vehicles. Gelfand said the system can also be used for high-speed rail crossings since federal requirements call for a barrier device.
His company is in negotiations with several states to install the devices at rail crossings.