It’s a good sign when law enforcement and railroad companies come together to prevent railroad crossing accidents and deaths.
In Harris County, Texas, local police and state troopers are working with the Union Pacific railroad to crack down on drivers who disobey railroad traffic lights and crossing gates. The idea is to stop drivers who attempt to beat the trains, carelessly stop on the tracks, or just blatantly ignore traffic signals. Union Pacific officials say there were 44 train and automobile crashes in the greater Houston area last year.
According to Union Pacific, drivers sometimes need a reminder of how dangerous it is to violate traffic signals at rail road crossings, and that a crack down on careless driving is part of that reminder and helps to be a deterrent.
In just a 30 minute time-frame, the DPS in Harris County stopped 10 vehicles for violating traffic laws at railroad crossings.
The public should know that ignoring railroad crossing signals should not be turned into some game of chicken where the driver attempts to beat out a train traveling over 55 mph.
It is important to note that sometimes rail road traffic signals can be broken, so drivers should approach every railroad crossing with caution and should immediately report any broken traffic signals to their local law enforcement and call the number posted on the railroad arms.
