RAILROAD STATISTICS PROVIDE SOBERING FACTS

A train traveling 55 miles per hour takes a mile -- up to two and-a-half minutes -- to come to a stop. A motorist seeing an oncoming train really can't tell how fast it is moving. These sobering facts are worth remembering when we recall the grim truth on fatalities at rail crossings in Missouri.

Last year saw 21 fatalities along with 103 injuries in Missouri. There were 12 such fatalities in 1994. Missouri ranks third in the nation in train traffic and eighth nationally in such fatalities.

Operation Lifesaver has begun a new campaign of print and electronic advertisements to stress the folly of trying to outrun a train. It is a lesson Missourians should take seriously as we try to eliminate the deadly and needless accidents that costs us so much in life and limb.