Spotting train track hazards
A Norfolk Southern freight train on Thursday struck a carload of students in Westmoreland County, killing two young men. It’s quite possible that neither the train operator nor the car’s driver was at fault. The train, by news accounts, was traveling in the posted speed range, and the driver might have not been able to see that the train was bearing down. The accident occurred at an ungated railroad crossing where simple cross bucks notify drivers that they are crossing tracks but no other warnings exist that a train is bearing down on the intersection.
Unfortunately there are still far too many of these dangerous intersections in communities throughout our region, where an unsuspecting driver can end up in a heap of trouble by simply not recognizing the hazard.
In the wake of this tragedy, township supervisors and borough councils should take stock of their roadways that intersect with rail lines. In conducting an inventory, local officials should take special note of intersections where warning lights and crossing gates are lacking and then petition PennDOT and the Public Utility Commission to make the crossings safer.
The railroads don’t take it upon themselves to weigh the safety of crossings for motorists. That’s a task for local officials to track.