Police Department Begins Strict Railroad Signal Enforcement

Last spring, the was awarded grant funding for the “Public Education and Enforcement Research Study” (PEERS), sponsored by the Illinois Commerce Commission. The PEERS initiative is a project targeted for local railroad safety education and enforcement programs.

The Illinois Commerce Commission has identified the following goals of this program:

• Promote railroad safety through implementation of well-defined and targeted education and enforcement programs
• Reduce the number of train-vehicle collisions that occur in Illinois, as well as incidences of trespassing upon railroad property.

Each year in Illinois, 50 to 60 people are killed and another 70 to 100 are injured in highway-rail grade crossing collisions, or while trespassing on railroad property. In the village of Hinsdale, there are currently five (5) grade crossings that present a conflict potential between a train and a pedestrian or motorist. Three of these busy crossings are within a block of each other—the busiest being the Garfield crossing with an average daily traffic count of 15,000 vehicles.

Deputy Chief Mark Wodka said that pedestrian violations are regularly observed at the Hinsdale commuter stations. The warning bells and red lights mean stop, but oftentimes the warning bells prompt a commuter to, instead, run across the tracks. Although many pedestrians are aware that their actions are unlawful, they are shocked when they are greeted with a $250 citation by a police officer.

Like motorists, pedestrians gamble at the tracks to save time, and the consequences of gambling with trains are deadly.

During the month of December, Hinsdale police will be using grant funding to conduct strict enforcement of both vehicular and pedestrian railroad signal violations. Officers will be assigned to the village of Hinsdale grade crossings to conduct zero tolerance enforcement in support of this initiative.

In Illinois, no pedestrian shall enter, remain upon, or traverse over a railroad grade crossing or pedestrian walkway crossing a railroad track when an audible bell or clearly visible electric or mechanical signal device is operational giving warning of the presence, approach, passage, or departure of a railroad train. When operating a vehicle, no person shall drive any vehicle through, around or under any crossing gate or barrier at a railroad crossing while such gate or barrier is closed or being opened or closed. Violating either of these laws will result in a mandatory court appearance and $250 fine for the first offense.

Common crossing collision causes:

• The person sees the train coming, but misjudges speed and distance.
• The person races the train to the crossing, and is either struck by the train, or runs into the side of it.
• As the train clears the crossing, the person immediately starts across the tracks without looking for other trains, and either strikes or is struck by a train running on an adjacent track.
• A person becomes “too familiar” with a crossing and uses no caution when approaching the crossing.
• A person is incapable of making a clear decision due to alcohol.

For more information, contact Mark Mandarino, the Hinsdale Police Department’s public information officer, at (630) 789-7089.