Car-Train Fatalities Hit Record Lows In U.S. & Ohio

(Columbus) – The deadly toll at U.S. and Ohio railroad crossings drops dramatically in 2003, but demonstrates the need to do more to make grade crossings safer.

Figures released by the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) show sharp declines both in overall car-train collisions and in the number of fatalities from such crashes. The same declines are seen in the national numbers, says ORDC Executive Director James Seney.

"This certainly validates the efforts by ORDC, Ohio’s Department of Transportation, and Ohio’s PUCO to make more of Ohio’s 63-hundred railroad grade crossings safer", says Seney. "It is also a tribute to the public education efforts of staff and volunteers of Operation Lifesaver, the railroads and the men and women of state, county and local law enforcement."

"While these numbers tell us we’re succeeding in reducing the carnage at railroad crossings" says Seney, "it also demonstrates we still have an obligation to work even harder on making Ohio’s railroad crossings safer. We cannot allow this success to in any way minimize the loss of those who still perished in 2003, nor the sadness and mental pain felt by their survivors and train crews."

Working with our partners at ODOT and the PUCO, ORDC as 10 different programs aimed at improving grade crossing safety for both motorists and train crews. Recently, Director Seney spoke out in favor of a new program: railroad "quiet zones".

Such zones would allow railroad crews to roll their trains through designated residential areas and communities without sounding their warning horns, as long as other safety measures are put in place to prevent vehicles from crossing into the paths of those oncoming trains. The proposal is contained in Substitute House Bill HB-247.

Testifying before the Ohio General Assembly in favor establishing demonstration "quiet zones" on some of Ohio’s rail corridors, Seney says HB-247 would not only lessen the impact of increased train traffic and noise: it would significantly improve grade crossing safety in three ways.

Seney says new, interim federal railroad "quiet zone" rules would require construction of new highway median barriers to prevent motorists from driving around activated warning gates and lights. "As hard as it is to believe", Seney told an Ohio Senate committee, "in 2003, 50-percent of the 11 fatal crashes in Ohio were at crossings with active, working warning devices. That figure is up from 47-percent of all fatal crashes te previous year. Median barriers WILL improve crossing safety."

Secondly, says Seney, the new Federal rules would allow the closing of more crossings in the quiet zones. "I am happy to report, Seney recently told an Ohio Senate committee, " that there never as been, and never will be, a fatal crash between a train and a car at a crossing that no longer exists."

Thirdly, the Federal rules require all "quiet zone" crossings that remain open to vehicular traffic to be upgraded with state of the art technology for warning devices. Newer gate and light systems have the capability to activate much earlier and faster and can even adjust to the speed of the oncoming train. This can serve to reduce te kind of frustration motorists often cite as a reason for driving around activated lights and gates. Coupled with the required median barriers, this can further reduce the danger to both motorists and train crews.

"Quiet zone" legislation, according to Director Seney, can also help "establish a framework for communities to seek and obtain state funding for upgrading crossing safety.

Greatly upgrading crossing safety also as a major benefit by improving the overall infrastructure for both the movement of freight and passengers, by allowing for better speed and greater capacity. That has an ultimate outcome of improving Ohio’s economy: better, safer mobility means goods and people can move more easily, thus making Ohio not only a stronger center for distribution, but a more attractive environment for doing business.

(ORDC is an independent agency within the Ohio Department of Transportation, mandated to improve passenger and freight rail service in Ohio.. For more information on ORDC and what we do, please see our website at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/ )