(The following story by Leigh Gentry appeared on The Town Talk website on November 11.)
NATCHITOCHES, La. — “You fight a train, you can’t win.”
It is a message Trooper First Class Adrian Landrineau of the Louisiana State Police, other law enforcement agencies and Union Pacific are working to spread.
“People don’t realize a train can’t stop,” Landrineau said.
An average freight train weighs about 12 million pounds and takes about a mile and a half to come to a complete stop, which may account for the 143 crashes with trains in Louisiana in 2006. There were eight fatalities in the same year, according to the most recent complete statistics from Operation Lifesaver Louisiana.
Preliminary 2007 information ranked Louisiana eighth with 14 fatalities, according to the national Operation Lifesaver Web site, a nonprofit organization that promotes railroad safety.
The message of railroad safety blared as loud as the train horn as it approached a crossing Monday.
The city of Natchitoches Police Department joined troopers in cracking down on railroad crossing safety.
The two departments had officers posted at the multiple railroad crossings that weave through Natchitoches, watching as a Union Pacific train rolled along the tracks Monday morning for a three- to four-hour traffic detail.
The officers observed violations — such as illegally crossing the railroad tracks when the lights are flashing — and stopped the vehicles to write tickets, State Police spokesman Scott Moreau said.
“The more law enforcement officers we have, the more people we can check,” Moreau said.
Between the two departments, 59 citations were issued for illegally crossing the railroad tracks. Thirty to 40 of them were issued in just the first two hours.
Edward Davis drove the Union Pacific train back and forth across a two-mile strip of railroad tracks Monday. A train conductor of five years, Davis said he sees a lot of people cross in front of a moving train every day.
Davis has never been in a train accident, but he said he has seen more close calls then he cares to talk about.
“I just hope I never get involved in one,” Davis said.
One theme was present with many of the violators.
Natchitoches Police Department Sgt. Randy Williams said that every person he pulled over said they didn’t know the law. He said they thought they could cross the track when the lights were on as long as they yielded and could cross safely.
However, Williams said details like the one Monday educates motorists.
“I don’t know how much this citation costs, but if it’s over $100 and this close to Christmas, they’ll learn,” Williams said.
The fine for illegally crossing railroad tracks depends on the judicial districts but can range from $50 to $500, Moreau said.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is upgrading nine railroad crossings in Natchitoches, which will take about a year to complete, DOTD railroad coordinator Gretchen Ferguson said.
Ferguson said each upgrade costs between $175,000 to $250,000, and Union Pacific, city of Natchitoches and a federal safety fund will split the bill.
These upgrades include making some of the intersections “active” crossings by adding gates. Although this may help, it must be coupled with following the railroad safety laws, Moreau said.
“Putting active crossings up is not an answer to crashes,” Moreau said.
Monday’s traffic detail was Natchitoches’ second one in the past year, and Union Pacific has been participating in these statewide details for five years.
A few little known railroad crossing safety laws include:
* Drivers are required to yield at railroad crossings if there are no lights or gates. They must check to make sure the track is clear.
* Vehicles for hire, such as taxis, must come to a complete stop at all railroad crossings.
* If the warning lights are flashing and the gates are down but there is no train, drivers are instructed to call local authorities before crossing.
* When waiting at a railroad crossing, cars should be at least 15 feet back from the crossing but no more than 50 feet.