byte wrote:What they should do is put in a camera, but also put in a huge, bright neon-colored sign (complete with flashing lights) that tells people not only to not sit on the tracks, but that "violators will be ticketed by camera" and leave the cameras on a pole so they're blatantly obvious to drivers. Hell, paint those neon, too, if there's any paint leftover from the sign. Anything they can do to keep people from sitting on the tracks in the first place should be done, because automated ticketing alone won't really do it.
What bothers me most about the Illinois Commerce Commision's decision to impose the Metra speed restriction is that it incorrectly implies that Metra was at least partially responsible for the accident, even though the actual intent was not intended to be punitive to Metra, but was to done ensure additional safety at a complex intersection. If you think about it though, the ICC's decision can potentially have the unintended result of sending mixed messages to drivers, to wit: "All motorists, it is your legal responsibility to heed all warning devices at train crossings, but we'll slow the trains down too in case there are those idiots among you that believe you can drive around the lowered gates and beat the train to the crossing."
That said, I'm in favor of any solutions that places an extra burden of responsibility where it truly belongs: Squarely on the shoulders of the motorists and pedestrians traveling past that Elmwood Park crossing, and in that regard, I agree with byte's above suggestion of the strategical placement of cameras and neon signs there. I'd add some hot pink to the neon too, the more loud and garish, the better. And if something like that ever became reality, Metra should kick down the door of the ICC and request (no, DEMAND) that the speed restriction be removed...
(btw- anybody else notice that this topic is starting to drift a little?)