Texas: Number One in Train Collisions

Each day, motorists in Texas break a law they may not know exists. My home town of Forney has a railroad track running through the downtown area. Trains are fairly frequent in coming through. Each day numerous cars and trucks insist on stopping on top of the railroad track. Rather than accepting that traffic is backed up and thus safely stopping their car behind the white line where the gate comes down, motorists insist on moving up those 3 extra feet to sit on the track.

Being as I have yet to see a driver pulled over and cited for this offense, I wondered if it was actually illegal in Texas. I checked the Texas Transportation Code book and discovered that indeed, stopping, standing or parking on a railroad track is against the law. You can be cited under Texas Transportation Code 545.302 (a) (8). In 2008 Texas had the highest number of Highway-Rail Grade crossing collisions with 228. Also in 2008, Texas ranked 5th for Highway-Rail Grade crossing fatalities, with 17 total. It would seem it is time for Texans to change their driving behavior around railroad tracks.

While I was a police officer in California, I created a railroad safety program for my department which utilized a great organization called Operation Lifesaver. You can read more about Operation Lifesaver here. We used TV, newspapers, and the internet and even passed out fliers door to door to raise railroad safety awareness to the public. I spoke to over 5000 students and we did extra enforcement days, first to warn motorists and then to ticket them. We significantly reduced the number of train related accidents and fatalities in my city.

People often do not see a train coming, so they see no harm in stopping on the track. Imagine that you are in that car, you see no train and you are waiting patiently on the track for traffic to move. Now a train is coming, and you are still on the track, traffic isn't moving, and you are blocked in. Still feel comfortable stopped there? You are simply asking for disaster by waiting on top of a railroad track for a traffic light to change.
What if your car stalls while you are stopped on the railroad track? Maybe you get out of your vehicle in time, but you can say goodbye to your nice car or truck. You'll find it smashed and totaled a mile down the track.

It is my sincere hope that law enforcement in my local community of Kaufman County will make a strong effort to enforce this law and prevent one of the many tragedies I saw as a police officer. I can assure you that if you get hit by a train, you lose. Take a moment to watch this video and see if you still want to stop on a railroad track:
www.youtube.com/watch

Source: http://www.oli.org/
Texas Transportation Code book
My experience as a police officer and as the railroad safety coordinator and PIO with my previous
police department.