LCSO announces Train Safety Awareness Week
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is joining Florida’s Operation Lifesaver and Community Traffic Safety Teams across the state in recognizing Train Safety Awareness Week, April 17 through 23. The effort was organized to increase awareness of highway-rail grad crossing safety and inform pedestrians of laws pertaining to trespassing on railroad property. In 2010, 12 fatalities were reported across the State of Florida, tying the State of Missouri for fifth worst in the country. Naturally, the overall goal of the statewide campaign is to reduce fatalities, injuries, collisions and reduce trespassing offenses.
Education will be the focus as the Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit places electronic billboards near highway-rail intersections this week. The message is simple: “Look, Listen & Live!” While Lee County has several crossings, most are controlled with crossing gates, signal lights and prominent signs and pavement markings, yet motorists shouldn’t be complacent. Statistics show over 50 percent of crashes at public grade crossings occurred despite warning devices. Safety experts encourage you to always expect a train at crossings. Be alert as you drive up to the highway-rail grade and don’t allow distractions to prevent you from hearing an approaching train. Walkers, joggers and bicyclists should cross only at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings, and obey all warning signs and signals posted there. If there’s an emergency at a crossing, look for a sign bearing a number to identify your exact location for the 9-1-1 operator.
Other safety tips include:
· Ever see a soda can hit by a car? That’s the same weight ratio of a car to a train! Trains cannot stop quickly enough to avoid collisions, so it’s up to motorists to be safe and alert at highway-rail intersections. It can take more than a mile for a train to stop.
· Remember, an approaching train is always closer and moving faster than you think. If you see a train approaching, wait for it to go by before you proceed across the tracks.
· Never drive around lowered gates — it’s illegal and deadly. If you suspect a signal is malfunctioning, call the 1-800 number posted on or near the crossing signal or your local law enforcement agency.
· Do not get trapped on the tracks; proceed through a highway-rail grade crossing only if you are sure you can completely clear the crossing without stopping.
· If your vehicle ever stalls on a track with a train coming, get out immediately and move quickly away from the tracks in the direction from which the train is coming. If you run in the same direction the train is traveling, when the train hits your car you could be injured by flying debris. Call your local law enforcement agency for assistance.
· At a multiple track crossing waiting for a train to pass, watch out for a second train on the other tracks, approaching from either direction.
· Trains overhang the tracks by at least three feet in both directions; loose straps hanging from rail cars may extend even further. If you are in the right-of-way next to the tracks, you can be hit by the train.
· Railroad tracks, trestles, yards and equipment are private property and trespassers are subject to arrest and fine. If you are in a rail yard uninvited by a railroad official you are trespassing and subject to criminal prosecution; you could be injured or killed in a busy rail yard.
· The only safe place to cross is at a designated public crossing with either a crossbuck, flashing red lights or a gate. If you cross at any other place, you are trespassing and can be ticketed or fined.
· Be aware trains do not follow set schedules. Any Time is Train Time!
· Trains always have the right-of-way!
Log on to www.floridaol.org for more safety tips or information.