Exercise caution at railroad crossings

Having no patience while sitting in the driver?s seat could end in disaster when common sense takes the back seat at railroad crossings.

Impatient motorists could be lucky to escape with their lives if they try and beat a train, said Caney Fork and Western Railroad administrative manager Sharon Hobbs.

?People get impatient and they try and beat the train because they don?t won?t to wait a few minutes,? said Hobbs. ?We just want people to know how dangerous that is. If the collision is between your vehicle and the train, your vehicle doesn?t stand a chance.?

There are very few instances of wrecks caused by vehicles trying to beat the train here in Warren County. However, there are quite a few instances when it comes to close calls.

?We have close calls where people just don?t want to stop,? said Hobbs. ?Even if they hear and see the train, they will try and get across the tracks. People try and get around flaggers. They just don?t realize how dangerous that can be.?

Perception is dangerous when it comes to judging the speed of a locomotive. Because of the huge size of a locomotive, it appears to be traveling much slower than it is and the parallel lines of the rails gives the illusion that it is farther away.

The weight of the train makes a sudden stop impossible. If the engine is by itself, it weighs 70 tons and takes half a mile to stop. Pulling cars increases the weight and also increases the time the train takes to stop.

?Safety is our number one priority,? said Hobbs. ?People need to slow down, look, listen and stop.

According to Caney Fork, there are 29 areas in Warren County where tracks and roadways intersect. Out of those, four have lights and none have gates.

Currently there are trains that run from Tullahoma to Sparta through Warren County Monday through Friday any by law they don?t have to stop.

?We use flaggers if there are lights present but they aren?t working,? said Hobbs. ?We don?t stop at crossings. We have our lights on and we sound the horn.?

Legally, vehicles have to stop. Tennessee law requires vehicles to stop if one of four circumstances occur:

? If there are flashing signals that indicate a train.

? If a gate is present and it is down.

? If you see a train.

? If you hear a train.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration statistics, in 2005 there were 3,010 collisions, 355 fatalities and 970 injuries nationally. In Tennessee, there were 78 accidents and 11 acts of trespass.

The Web site, www.azol.org/safety.htm, Safety Tips and Facts, Basic physics 101 states:

? The average family car weighs about 3,000 pounds. We all know what happens to a 12-ounce can of pop when a car runs over it. The can of pop is totally destroyed because of the weight ratio of the car to the can of pop is 4,000 to 1. The average freight rain weighing 12 million pounds outweighs a car by the same ratio of 4,000 to 1. When a force of 12 million pounds hits a car, it will be destroyed – just like a can of pop!