policing railroad crossings

I'm not sure which index is best for this, but I'm putting it here because I see the problems on Metra's BNSF line all too often. Forgive me for venting, but I have to do it.

What I'm talking about is car and truck drivers making illegal turns and getting stuck on the tracks by red lights and pedestrians crossing the tracks when the gates are down. I take the BNSF out of La Grange Rd and this happens all too often, regardless of time of day. A car or truck will make a left turn where it is very clearly marked NO LEFT TURN and get caught on the tracks because cross traffic has the green. Frequently a train will be only seconds away from activating the crossing warning system. Same with pedestrians, where I've seen too many start across the tracks AFTER the gates are down and the train's engineer is leaning on the horn. Just last week a pedestrian was struck and killed (I presume) by a train just west of the LG Rd station.

In La Grange, as it happens, the police HQ is right between Stone Ave and LG Road stations, about 1 1/2 blocks from each, yet there is hardly ever any police presence at either station. And when a squad car happens to be present and another driver makes an illegal turn onto the tracks or a pedestrian moseys onto the rails with the gates down, the police take no action. It's impossible for the cops to miss every such occurrence! With all the crossing violations going on the town could make a mint in collected fines. Why can't they at least put up cameras to catch violators? I'm sure the investment would pay for itself in short order! I brought this up in the local paper a few months ago but there appears to be no interest by authorities in dealing with the issue.

Thank you for your time.

Complicating matters, there's also a decent amount of semi traffic on LaGrange Road through town. I've seen trailers stopped over the tracks on many occasions. Earlier this year there was a pedestrian that was struck and killed by an eastbound Metra at Lagrange Rd. during the height of the PM rush.

But yes, surveillance cameras at that crossing would deter such behavior.

orangeline wrote:I brought this up in the local paper a few months ago but there appears to be no interest by authorities in dealing with the issue.

Since most of the cops as you've described it don't seem to be interested in enforcing the law, especially when they themselves witness these illegal turns onto the tracks, adding cameras at the crossing won't make much of a difference. Mentioning this dangerous situation in your local paper is a start, but it'll likely have to be reinforced by a grass-roots style community effort among yourself and those that support your position, in order to give this issue the attention it deserves. Otherwise, unless you're a political insider, there's probably no other way to get the police's attention, at least not until the next fatal accident...

Call the BNSF RR police at the Aurora Depot and report it. They can usually have a sting operation arranged. They have done this at Belmont Road in Downers Grove on numerous occasions.

Check this youtube vid out, from Whiting, IN, across the state line from Chicago. I've never seen anybody walk so close to the front of a speeding train.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhM42bsKA_c

Wow. And that wasn't even a LONG train, either. He would have had to wait, what, 7 seconds? Calling people like that brain-dead and incapable of rational thought would be an insult to nursing home vegetables everywhere...

I just saw the vid and I have to say what an Idiot, I have seen a lot of near misses and never saw anyone get hit, it is crazy to cross infront of a moving train. I used to work at bank one Wilmette and walked over to the post office, I went across the tracks and the lights and gates go down, now I am between the tracks and green bay road. next to a parking lot. the lights turned against me on Green bay road and I decided to wait for the train, I know some engineers that are CNW. This old man started to walk across, it was one of the expesses that did not stop at Wilmette, the guy looked and the train was at the cross walk next to the station. He crossed and the Train went by whistles blaring. the train missed I looked at the guy and said that was stupid, he told me to mind my own business. If their was a cop around I would have had the guy arrested, I am guessing it took place before Oct 25 1995. I wish I did, for if CNW was running Right hand main the guy would have been hit.
STAY BEHIND THE GATES AND WAIT, IT IS NOT WORTH IT,
Pass that to your freinds and family,