The story below from February 9 Richmond Standard (http://richmondstandard.com/2015/02/driver-vehicle-struck-train-cutting-boulevard-richmond-survives/) illustrates how dysfunctional federal and state public policy related to railroad grade crossings continues to be.
For a full and detailed treatment, see “Train Horns, a Modern Public Health Plague.”
Railroads are allowed to maintain tracks and utilize grade crossings at public street rights of way without any functional safety measures. The intersection of Harbour Way South and Wright Avenue is one such heavily used grade crossing in Richmond that was the scene of could have easily been a fatal collision between a car and a train.
The railroads have no legal obligation to provide the gates, bells and flashing lights that typically provide warning and protection at such crossings. This particular crossing is unusually dangerous because the tracks cross the intersection diagonally, an vision is obscured by vegetation. Providing safety features would cost as much as $1 million, and federal law says that if a city wants them, the city, not the railroad, will have to pay for them.
A side effect of unprotected grade crossings is that they cannot be placed into quiet zones, thus continuing to subject residents within a mile radius to 98-decibel train horns 24-7, a proven hazard to public health.
The time has come to persuade our state and federal legislators to take action to require the railroads make these dangerous grade crossings safer and at the same time eliminate the ineffective horn blowing that does not prevent collisions but literally kills people slowly.
A tax on railroads of $0.01 per ton of freight would provide enough money to upgrade all these grade crossings and make them safe. Contact our California congressional delegation to ask for that/
One thing you can do is contact our new assemblyman, Tony Thurmond, through his chief of staff Mary Nicely (Mary.Nicely@asm.ca.gov) and ask him to sponsor a bill to amend Section 6706 of the Public Utilities Code, as follows:
Exhibit A – Proposed Amendment to Public Utilities Code Section 6706
Public Utilities Code - PUC
DIVISION 4. LAWS RELATING TO UTILITY CORPORATIONS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES [7503 - 8286]
( Division 4 enacted by Stats. 1951, Ch. 764. )
CHAPTER 1. Railroad Corporations [7503 - 7727]
( Chapter 1 enacted by Stats. 1951, Ch. 764. )
ARTICLE 5. Railroad Equipment [7601 - 7614]
( Article 5 enacted by Stats. 1951, Ch. 764. )
7604.
(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device shall be sounded at any public crossing in accordance with Section 222.21 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device shall be sounded, consistent with paragraph (1), at all rail crossings not subject to the requirements of Subpart B (commencing with Section 222.21) of Part 222 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) A bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device shall not be sounded in those areas established as quiet zones pursuant to Subpart C (commencing with Section 222.33) of Part 222 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4) This section does not restrict the use of a bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device during an emergency or other situation authorized in Section 222.23 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(5) A Quiet Zone may be established under the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission at any grade crossing not subject to (a)(1) in accordance with the provisions of 49 CFR 222, Subpart C, Exceptions to the Use of the Locomotive Horn, beginning with 222.33.
(b) Any railroad corporation violating this section shall be subject to a penalty of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for every violation. The penalty may be recovered in an action prosecuted by the district attorney of the proper county, for the use of the state. The corporation is also liable for all damages sustained by any person, and caused by its locomotives, train, or cars, when the provisions of this section are not complied with.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 885, Sec. 3. Effective September 30, 2006.)
Exhibit B – Substitution of Wayside Horn
7604. Audible warning devises; sounding of devises; penalty for violations; liability for damage
(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device shall be sounded at any public crossing in accordance with Section 222.21 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device shall be sounded, consistent with paragraph (1), at all rail crossings not subject to the requirements of Subpart B (commencing with Section 222.21) of Part 222 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. For the purposes of this subsection, a similar audible warning device includes a wayside horn as defined in Section 222.9 of Title 49 and which meets the minimum requirements of Appendix E to Part 222.
(3) A bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device shall not be sounded in those areas established as quiet zones pursuant to Subpart C (commencing with Section 222.33) of Part 222 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (4) This section does not restrict the use of a bell, siren, horn, whistle, or similar audible warning device during an emergency or other situation authorized in Section 222.23 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) Any railroad corporation violating this section shall be subject to a penalty of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for every violation. The penalty may be recovered in an action prosecuted by the district attorney of the proper county, for the use of the state. The corporation is also liable for all damages sustained by any person, and caused by its locomotives, train, or cars, when the provisions of this section are not complied with.
Photo courtesy of the Richmond Police Department.
Train strikes SUV in Richmond Monday; driver survives with minor injuries
February 9, 2015 by Mike Aldax
A woman whose sport utility vehicle was struck by a train and pushed 75 feet down the tracks in Richmond Monday afternoon survived with only minor injuries, authorities said.
The collision occurred about 12:40 p.m. as the woman was driving a Lexus SUV southbound on Harbour Way South at Wright Avenue, police said.
The woman failed to yield to a BNSF Railway train horn as well as lights signaling that a train was coming, Richmond police Capt. Mark Gagan said. The impact pushed the SUV 75 feet down the tracks before the train came to a stop.
The train had been traveling between 8 and 10 mph at the time of the collision, police said.
Fire crews had to extricate the woman from the SUV’s passenger-side door using the “Jaws of Life” due to the impact from the train, Richmond fire Capt. Rico Rincon said.
However, the woman walked away from the incident with minor injuries, police said.
Above, Intersection of Harbour Way South and Wright Avenue
Above, Intersection of Harbour Way South and Wright Avenue
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