CROSSING ACCIDENTS SHOW RISE

The number of railroad grade crossing accidents, fatalities and injuries in Southeast Missouri increased last year, according to a state railroad safety report.

Statewide, there was a slight increase in the total number of grade crossing collisions, but a decline in the number of fatalities and injuries in 1990.

The report listed a rural railroad crossing near Bernie, in Stoddard County, and several railroad crossings in and near Dexter, as having the most train-motor vehicle fatalities and collisions in Southeast Missouri in 1990.

The information is contained in the annual "Summary of Grade-Crossing Collisions" compiled by the Missouri Division of Transportation's Office of Railroad Safety.

Stoddard County was ranked second in the state last year with 10 railroad grade crossing collisions. The county was among the top four (Cole, Johnson, Stoddard, and Webster) counties recording grade crossing fatalities in 1990 (3).

The report said there were 133 public grade crossing collisions in Missouri last year. That was an increase from 126 in 1989.

Last year, 26 people were killed by trains at public crossings while in motor vehicle. Another 36 persons received non-fatal, but often serious injuries. That was an increase of three fatalities and a decrease of 21 injuries compared to 1989 statistics.

Not included in the statistics are 16 collisions at private crossings, such as farm or industrial crossings, that resulted in one fatality and seven injuries. There was one fatality involving a person struck while walking on the railroad tracks, and eight fatalities involving persons who were trespassing on railroad tracks or property.

When the private crossing accidents and pedestrian and trespassing fatalities are combined with the public crossing accidents, the total number of collisions last year was 149. The number of people killed was 35, while another 45 received non-fatal injuries. Those figures compare with 148 grade crossing collisions, 42 fatalities, and 70 non-fatal injuries that occurred in 1989.

The report said in 75 percent of the grade crossing accidents, the motor vehicle was struck by the train.

Over half of the collisions occurred during the day, 70 percent of them during clear weather.

The report said 27 percent of grade crossing fatalities occurred while the freight train was traveling at between 40-50 mph. But 23 percent of last year's fatalities occurred at train speeds of 10 mph or less.

Meanwhile, the number of railroad grade crossing fatalities in the state during the first six months of this year is down slightly, 17, compared to 15 killed at this time last year.

The latest fatalities this year include a mother and her 19-year-old daughter killed Friday when their car collided with a train 10 miles southwest of Springfield.

In Southeast Missouri, a Risco man was killed May 1 when his pickup truck was struck by a Cotton Belt freight train at a railroad crossing on Stoddard County Road 784, one mile south of Bernie. Another collision at the same grade crossing on Sept. 19, 1990, claimed the life of motorist who did not stop for the train.

In addition to the three deaths last year in Stoddard County, two people were killed in New Madrid County, and one in Butler County.

Rick Mooney, coordinator of the railroad safety office's Operation Lifesaver, points out the overall trend of collisions, fatalities and injuries at railroad grade crossings in the state continues to decline from the 1976 base year.

Mooney said in 1976, the year before Operation Lifesaver started in Missouri, there were 283 grade crossing collisions that claimed 42 lives and injured 133 people.

Last year, 41 percent of all grade crossing accidents occurred at crossings with active warning devices, a 6 percent decrease from 1989 figures. "This is the fourth year in a row that a substantial decline has occurred and indicates that a positive trend has been established," said Mooney.

Operation Lifesaver is a program that attempts to educate the public of the dangers that exist at railroad grade crossings.

Mooney said railroad grade crossing collisions differ from most other traffic situations in their severity.

"An accident at a rail/highway grade crossing is 11 times more likely to result in a fatality than other motor vehicle collisions, and five times more likely to result in a disabling injury than all other types of traffic accidents," he said. "More than 45 percent of these accidents occur at grade crossings equipped with bells, flashing lights and gates. But too often, drivers ignore these protective devices."

Mooney said it takes more than a half-mile to stop a 150-car freight train weighing thousands of tons and traveling at 30 mph. He said it is also very difficult for motorists to estimate the speed of an oncoming train at a crossing.

Mooney said most grade crossing collisions can be prevented by good driving habits. About 85 percent of the rail/highway collisions are due to driver inattention or poor judgment, said Mooney.

"Disregard of grade crossing warning devices is a serious problem," he said. "Education and engineering efforts alone cannot be effective without enforcement of the basic traffic regulations at grade crossings."

The railroads and law enforcement agencies have instituted the "Trooper on a Train" program. This involves a law enforcement officer who rides in the cab of the locomotive to watch for motorists who violate grade crossing safety rules. The motorist is then stopped by an officer in a patrol car and issued a ticket or warning.