(The following appeared at LasVegasNow.com on April 30.)
LAS VEGAS — The lights flash, Metro police and Union Pacific teamed up Wednesday for a traffic sting called Operation C.A.R.E. That stands for cross accident reduction enforcement. Police say too many drivers cross over the tracks, even as the gates are coming down.
Metro and Union Pacific police focused on the intersections with the most problems, like the one at West Desert Inn near Industrial.
Their goal was to send a message not to play chicken with a train because the driver always loses.
At least a dozen drivers within three hours Wednesday broke the law by racing under the railroad crossing guards as they were coming down. A Metro officer on board a Union Pacific train coordinated with other officers at the railroad crossings.
In some cases so many cars ran the crossings, officers could not reach all of them.
Officer Craig Lyford of Metro Traffic Enforcement said, “It’s going to be failure to stop at railroad crossing device. It’s about a $300 dollar fine.”
The operation is meant to show drivers its not worth risking your life just to save time.
Union Pacific special agent Jorge Villaescusa says just the train engine weighs 20 tons and an impact at a crossing will easily smash a car to smithereens.
“It’s equivalent to a vehicle crushing an aluminum can,” said Villaescusa.
“You know what, 99 times out of a 100 you will make it, but all it takes is that one time,” said Officer Lyford.
Still, drivers roll the dice every day as trains barrel through Las Vegas. The engineer will lay on the horn, but they say drivers act as if they never hear it or see the crossing guards coming down in front of them.
A train going 50 miles-an-hour will take about a mile to stop.
Back in 1932, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a train always has the right of way. Union Pacific rail trains are allowed to go 50 miles-per-hour through parts of the Las Vegas valley.
Police want you to know when the lights and guards activate — stop — or you may get a ticket.