Railroad labor unions target unsafe grade crossings

To build a national database of unsafe railroad crossings, the unions are asking their members and the general public to report problems to a special task force. The Brotherhoods are also reaching out for help to Operation Lifesaver, a rail safety organization that has made highway-rail grade crossing safety its mission.

Union members and others are encouraged to report unsafe railroad grade crossings to a toll-free telephone hotline at (800) 964-9464, or via e-mail to either "safecrossings@ble.org,"signal@brs.org," or "utu@compuserve.com." Reports and photographs also may be sent to the Rail Crossing Task Force, United Transportation Union, 14600 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, OH 44107-4207.

According to Clarence Monin, president of the BLE, motorists dodging closed highway-rail crossing gates and narrowly missing collision with trains is a big problem for train crews.

"There are 100 near misses for every one collision at America's grade crossings," Monin said. "The railroad companies and government agencies don't keep statistics on these incidents, but it's a perpetual problem for locomotive engineers. We hope to eliminate near misses and actual collisions through this campaign."

"The unions have joined together to save lives and improve the safety of every American who works on or crosses railroad tracks," Little said. "We intend to compile this information and let the political leadership in every state and in Washington know where the problem spots are located. We need to try and solve this problem before we have more accidents like the recent Amtrak crash, which claimed the lives of 11 innocent people."

The unions said the complete list of unsafe rail grade crossings would be made available to the public on their websites, (www.ble.org, www.brs.org, www.utu.org) when it is completed.

"The members of our unions know what is safe and what is an accident waiting to happen," Little said. "Together, we can make a difference and cut through the red tape and find quick and sound solutions to these problems."

The unions are also calling on the Federal Railroad Administration to step up efforts to design and test crossing safety systems that are more difficult to circumvent, such as four-way gates at railroad crossings.

"The BRS is very proud to join the BLE and UTU in an effort to identify the nation's unsafe railroad grade crossings," said BRS International President W.D. "Dan" Pickett. "If this country is sincere in stopping deaths at railroad crossings, they will begin installing four-quadrant gates immediately.

"With the technology available today, and with using the four-quadrant gates, accidents at crossings could almost be eliminated," Pickett said. "The decision has to be made that will force the motoring public to wait for trains at crossings. It is a proven fact that motorists will wait when four-quadrant gates are installed."

There are more than 260,000 grade-level railroad crossings in the country, but only about 62,000 are equipped with active warning systems such as gates, lights, or bells.

Efforts by the federal government to provide millions of dollars to states to improve crossings, coupled with an ongoing campaign to close grade-level crossings, and regulations mandating ditch lights on locomotives are paying off. Last year there were 422 deaths at grade crossings, down 33 percent from five years ago.

Of all the reportable accidents, 183, or 74 percent, were attributable to motor vehicle operator inattention or impatience. Of those accidents, 114 occurred at crossings with active warning devices.

That same year, 50 people died in collisions with Amtrak trains a highway-rail intersections. Amtrak trains struck and killed 69 other people who were trespassing on an Amtrak rail line.

Texas had the deadliest record of any state between 1991 and 1998 with 380 deaths at railroad grade crossings, according to the FRA. Illinois was second with 288 deaths.