RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING ACCIDENTS DECLINE IN STATE

JEFFERSON CITY -- Railroad grade crossing accidents and fatalities continue to decline in Missouri, according to a state railroad safety report.

But the number of fatalities due to trespassing on railroad property increased sharply last year and during the first six months of 1992.

In Missouri, 115 accidents were reported last year at public railroad grade crossings, resulting in 17 fatalities and 40 injuries.

There were 14 other collisions at railroad crossings on private property, such as industrial sites, that killed five people and injured seven others. One pedestrian was injured when struck by a train.

Six more people were killed and 10 injured in the state last year when they were struck or run over by trains while trespassing on railroad property, or attempting to climb onto moving railroad equipment.

A total of 28 people were killed and 58 injured last year in grade crossing and trespassing incidents last year, compared to 35 killed and 45 injured in 1990. In 1989, 42 people were killed and 70 injured in similar accidents.

In Southeast Missouri, railroad crossing accidents and fatalities was down sharply from past years. Only three fatalities were reported last year in the eight-county area: two in Stoddard County, and one in Scott County.

Stoddard County had the most number of grade crossing collisions last year in this area with five. Cape Girardeau and Dunklin counties each had two grade crossing accidents that included one injury in Dunklin County.

The 1991 figures are in marked contrast with a few years ago, when Butler, Stoddard and Scott counties were among the top five counties statewide in grade crossing accidents and fatalities.

While safety officials are pleased with the continued decrease in railroad-related deaths and injuries, they are concerned about the number of railroad trespasser deaths during the first half of this year in Missouri.

Rick Mooney, coordinator of the railroad safety office's Operation Lifesaver program, said that in 1992, nine people have been killed in Missouri in 12 trespassing incidents.

The figure includes one person who was killed while trespassing on Union Pacific Railroad property in Poplar Bluff.

Mooney said many of the trespassing incidents include people struck by trains while walking on railroad tracks. Others involved individuals who attempted to climb onto moving freight cars.

Other trespassing deaths occurred when people tried to climb under or through a stopped train that started moving unexpectedly.

Mooney attributed the overall decrease in grade crossing accidents and deaths to a continued emphasis on the three "E's" of railroad grade crossing safety:

Education of the public on grade crossing safety through the "Operation Lifesaver" program;

Engineering of dangerous grade crossings with the installation of crossing signals; and

Enforcement of railroad grade crossing traffic safety rules through the "Trooper on The Train" safety program.

Mooney said the decrease in collisions is proof the three "E" program is working.

"Operation Lifesaver is a program through which we attempt to educate the public, both adults and children, of the dangers that exist at grade crossings and around railroad tracks," he said.

"The program was implemented in 1977 and is continuing to spread information about railroad grade crossing safety."

Mooney said the Trooper on The Train program has operated for the past several years throughout the state.

With the program, law enforcement officers ride in the locomotive to watch for drivers who violate grade crossing safety rules, such as driving around lowered crossing gates when a train is approaching. The officer reports the violation to another officer in a patrol car.

"We are also continuing to upgrade railroad grade crossings by adding gates, flashing lights and bells whenever possible," he said. "However, we are limited because of a shortage of funds."

The safety report said 34 percent of all grade crossing collisions in Missouri occurred at night, usually as the driver of the motor vehicle tried to beat the train to the crossing.

The report said that last year, a fatality occurred in one of every seven grade-crossing collisions, compared to one in every 179 motor-vehicle collisions on the state's highways.

Nationwide, grade crossing collisions also declined 6.3 percent from 1990. There were 5,350 collisions between trains and motor vehicles, which resulted in 602 deaths down 13.7 percent from 698 fatalities in 1990.

The overall number of people injured last year in railroad crossing accidents was down 14.7 percent, from 2,407 in 1990 to 2,053 in 1991.

Paul Oakley, executive director of the legislative department of the American Association of Railroads and president of Operation Lifesaver Inc., said last year's numbers are encouraging.

He said 1990 was a "record-low year with crashes and fatalities" down more than 12 percent from 1989 figures. "We are looking at two consecutive record-low years," Oakley said.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reported the number of rail crossing collisions in the nation last year were the lowest since the agency has kept records.

Oakley said that in the 1970s, the number of reported grade crossing collisions averaged twice what they do today with more than 12,000 crashes annually that resulted in an average of 1,200 deaths.

He said the decline in highway-rail crashes and casualties has occurred despite a significant increase in vehicular and train traffic during the past two decades.