Nearly every 100 minutes someone in America is hit by a train.
Most vehicle train collisions occur within 25 miles of the motorist's home.
University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter March 1996 quotes National Safety Council; "1994 train/car alone 500 people killed, and over 3000 injured".
A motorist is 40 times more likely to die in an accident with a train than in a collision with another motor vehicle.
In 1994, 1,226 people were killed and 16,526 injured at railroad crossings or along railroad track.
Deaths at railroad crossings rank #1 among rail related fatalities. Deaths along railroad tracks rank #2.
Trains cannot stop in time to prevent an accident: A standard freight train with 150 cars moving 50 miles per hour will require about 8,000 feet or 1 1/2 miles to stop.
Of the more than 166,000 railroad crossings across the USA, more than 115,000 or are not guarded by either lights or gates. (No active and/or advance warning)
Q: What about the railroad industry claim that railroads are safer now than ever before?
A: Well, according to U.S. News and World Report, railroad accidents did go down in the early 1980's but since 1987, the frequency of accidents per million miles traveled has remained virtually unchanged.
Q: Have the number of fatalities at least gone down?
A: No. For example, in 1984, 610 people died at railroad crossings alone. Ten years later, exactly the same number of people died at railroad crossings -- 610 fatalities in 1994.
Q: Why don't the railroads do something to make railroads safer?
A: According to U.S. News and World Report, despite record profits, the railroad industry has rejected safety recommendations and fought proposed safety rules; "at least a dozen recommended safety improvements that could have prevented scores of accidents have not been implemented."
"Many of today's railroad saftey signals and procedures date back almost to the last century. For some reason, the technological revolution seems to have left rail saftey back at the station. Compounding matters, much of our regulatory system has been unchanged for decades."
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg ( D-NJ )
2/26/96
"Since January 1, 1996 the Safety Board's railroad division has launched investigations on 14 railroad accidents that resulted in 19 fatalities, 226 injuries and over $62 million in damages.... the Board continues to investigate tragic accidents where appropriate safety regulations could have prevented the accident...."
James Hail
Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board
Traffic World, 3/4/96
"The recent derailments and collisions belie the carriers statistical claims of increased safety. The railroads made the economic decision to run defective and unsafe equipment and risk the lives and safety of railroad workers."
Richard Johnson
Transportation Communications Workers
The Journal of Commerce, 3/6/96
"All of these recent accidents have been tragedies. It would be an additional tragedy if we did not seize the moment and make this system safer."
Barry Sweedler
Director of Safety Recommendations, National Transportation Safety Board
Washington Post, 3/14/96
"Once a freight train gets away from you, there's nothing you can do to stop it.... Even if you're a Vietnam vet or a fighter pilot being blown out of the sky, nothing is as scary as a runaway train."
Paul Morrison
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
L.A. Times, 3/31/96
"Records show dozens of accidents -- including five this year alone -- might have been prevented if safety warnings were heeded. Instead they were derailed by industry opposition, bureaucratic delays and a reluctance by federal regulators to push for change."
Orange County Register, 4/14/96
"The life we once had, and shared, died with Tanecca on those tracks..... Her life came to an end, all because of the lack of lights and gates. The lawmakers and these billion dollar railroad companies need to see the human side of this senseless tragedy."
Debbie Klostermeier
(Her daughter was killed by a train at a crossing accident in 1994)
Letter to RailWatch, 5/14/96
"Every (railroad) crossing is a loaded gun waiting to go off.... These are preventable tragedies. We have a responsibility to protect our teens."
Dr. Lanny Wilson
(His daughter was killed and his son injured at a crossing accident in 1994)
Chicago Tribune, 5/26/96
"....a decade of streamlining has enabled the once ailing industry to post record profits.... But increased competition and pressure to cut costs have emboldened the railroad industry, which has contributed some $8 million to members of Congress since 1988, to resist a host of regulatory reforms. As a result, at least a dozen recommended safety improvements that could have prevented scores of accidents have not been implemented."
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