LAFAYETTE, La. — According to the Lafayette Advertiser, more than half of all train-vehicle collisions occur at crossings where there are warning devices, said Robert Gould, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday.
Monday afternoon Phil Harrower, an Acadiana businessman, passed warning lights and bells before being broadsided by the Sunset Limited Amtrak train at the intersection of La. 182 and La. 88 in Cade. Harrower was pronounced dead at the scene.
Harrower, 45, of Broussard, was traveling parallel to the train along La. 182 before his attempt to cross the railway intersection onto La. 88. Harrower was the chief executive officer of Aggreko, LLC, a worldwide company that supplies temporary power to the Olympics and various events.
“Phil Harrower was an outstanding leader, and we are all shocked by his untimely death,” said Paul Williams, vice president of human resources, in a news release.
The company set up its North American headquarters in New Iberia in 1986. When Harrower took over as CEO in January 2002, company officials shared Harrower’s desire to keep the headquarters in Acadiana.
Last year, 22 people died in collisions at highway-rail intersections, according to Federal Railroad Administration statistics.
An hour before Harrower’s accident Monday, another Amtrak collision occurred outside of Hammond. The passenger train, City of New Orleans, struck a vehicle sticking out on the track. The driver was not injured.
Harrower’s accident is still under investigation by the Louisiana State Police.
The crossing was protected by bells and flashers “all of which were working as intended,” said Dan Stessel, an Amtrak spokesman, on Tuesday. But warning devices don’t always affect motorists’ behavior, said Gould. “People make a conscious choice to beat the train or are not paying attention,” Gould said speaking in general.
“It comes down to people’s behavior. The trains do not cause these accidents,” he said.
“Look, listen and live” is the motto spread by Operation Lifesaver, a national nonprofit that works to educate the public on railroad safety. Under the law, white cross-buck signs notifying a rail crossing are to be treated as a yield sign, said Betsey Williams, executive director of Louisiana Operation Lifesaver. The agency began an $11,000 public service ann-ouncement campaign during the holidays to educate people on railway crossing awareness. Motorists need to make a habit of slowing down before crossing tracks, Williams said.
“We’re fighting two things in Louisiana and across the nation,” she said. “Impatience and complacency.”
“Even if (motorists) do not see a train, they should slow down and look both ways before crossing,” Williams said.
The Sunset Limited with three locomotives and 11 cars was traveling at the authorized track speed of 70 mph, Stressel said.
The stopping distance for an eight-car passenger train traveling at 79 mph is 6,000 feet and 3,500 feet at 60 mph.