THEY
CAN’T LET ANYONE FORGET THE DANGER
The Independent
By: Laura Van Houten
Friday, April 9,
2004
Some people don’t want Denny and Vicky Moore to continue
their mission.
But hearing negative comments about their work just gives them
more motivation.
“This is our full-time job and lifetime mission now,” Vicky said.
“We get emails all of the time that are hatful and from
people who have a bone to pick with us. And these people know
nothing about us personally or the work we do. So they give
us the incentive to do more. We’ll continue this until
the day we die and there are people who will continue it for
us after that.”
The Moores, formerly of Canal Fulton, started The Angels on
Track Foundation, a non-profit railroad safety foundation,
in 1997, after a train/vehicle accident involving their two
sons, Jason and Ryan.
On March 25, 1995, Jason, then 18, was driving with 16-year-old
Ryan and four of their friends down Deerfield Avenue Northwest
in Lawrence Township when their car was struck by a Conrail
freight train.
Ryan and his two friends, Joshua White, 17, and Alyson Ley,
16, died that day. Jason was injured along with White’s
sister, Rebecca, and friend Jessica Helms.
“There was only a crossbuck sign and no gates or lights,” Vicky
said. “Jason was obeying all the laws and was not cited for the accident.
Ryan along with two other friends, Joshua and Alyson, would still be alive
today if there had been gates.
“That crossing at Deerfield had been considered one of the most dangerous
crossings in Ohio and was approved for gates in November 1994”, she added. “Between
January 1995 and March 1995, there were three separate accidents where four
people died. And it took them until November 1995 to put the gates and lights
up at that crossing.”
To the Moores, the crossing where their son was killed is not
the only dangerous crossing.
“All crossings are bad, “Denny said. “We want everyone to
know that all crossings are bad. We did win money from our case against Conrail,
but to us it’s blood money. That money came to us because of the death
of our son.
“We couldn’t go buy a house or a car with that money,” he
added. “It just didn’t seem right. So we put the money into the
foundation. We’ll probably never know how many people we’ve helped
keep from tragedy, but as long as we do help, that’s what’s important.”
The foundation’s funding program is designed as a Reimbursement
Grant. Working with the State Funded Grade Crossing Upgrade
Program outlined by the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, counties
that qualify can apply and be considered for possible funding,
which is up to 30 percent and not to exceed $40,000 for each
upgrade project.
“We’ve helped pay to upgrade about 10 crossings,” Denny said. “We’ve
worked with eight counties, but have approached more than 20. Some counties
may feel that it’s not an immediate need or they don’t want to
put up the money.
“They want easy money and fixing these crossings is not easy,”
he added. “The costs of upgrading a crossing have gone
up from $108,000 per upgrade to $166,000 per upgrade. With
the way the reimbursement grant works, the counties would have
to pay more money, which with the economy is not always at
the top of their list.”
The foundation’s latest project is educational.
“We’ve put our message, ‘Bad Crossings Kill Good Drivers,’
on billboards and have recorded public service announcements
on the radio,”
Vicky said. “And while we’ve gotten a lot of negative
comments about them, that means that people are seeing them,
which is what we wanted. And with those negative comments,
we also get positive e-mails from people thanking us.”
The Moores read about families just like theirs everyday. “We
still see accidents with trains and cars all the time,” Vicky
said. “And families just like ours lose a loved one when
it could have been avoided if there was a gate or lights. But
for many areas, upgrading is not a priority until a death happens.
“We’re doing this for the victims,” she added. “Many
people think when these accidents happen, the drivers are at fault, which in
most cases, like our son’s, is not true. And in some cases, the victims
can’t speak for themselves because they’ve died in the crash. We
want people to know it’s not always their fault.”
In a way, their efforts have kept Ryan’s memory alive,
Denny said. “Doing this work is a constant reminder of
what happened to our son”, he said.
“It’s hard to think about upgrading a crossing
without thinking of him, Josh and Alyson. Every time we go
to a crossing, we can’t help but think of our son.”
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