JUNE
WORST MONTH FOR RAILROAD CRASHES
The Repository
By KELI YOUNG
Repository staff writer
June 3, 2013
CANTON —The same year that Stark County had its
first fatal train crash in eight years, the county also saw
more railroad crossing safety upgrades completed in at least
a decade.
New figures from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which
regulates rail crossings statewide, show that 71 train-vehicle
crashes occurred at public railroad crossings in Ohio last
year, resulting in nine deaths and 25 injuries. Stark County
ranked in the top five of counties with the highest number
of crashes and was among the six counties that had at least
one death due to a crash, according to the figures, which reflect
only crashes that occurred at railroad crossings.
So far this year, no crashes have been reported in Stark County.
But it’s only the beginning of June — the month
when PUCO figures show that most crashes occur.
CRASHES
One of Stark County’s three crashes last year occurred
in June. Railroad officials reported that a pickup drove through
the rail crossing at Third Street NE in Canton just before
8 p.m. on June 17 and failed to yield to an oncoming train.
The train, owned by Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, clipped
the truck’s passenger rear taillight, but the unidentified
driver sped away.
The second crash came less than a month later. Wiladine “Billy” Van
Wert, 85, of Jackson Township was killed July 13 when a Cuyahoga
Valley Scenic Railroad train struck her car at the Portage
Street NW crossing, west of Whipple Avenue NW. The Ohio Highway
Patrol ruled that Van Wert, who had been traveling alone, drove
her Honda sedan through a lowered gate and into the path of
the southbound train. The train’s two passengers and
five crew members were not injured.
Van Wert’s death was the first train crash fatality for
Stark County since 2004, PUCO figures show.
At 1:08 a.m. the next day, a Norfolk Southern Railway train
demolished an abandoned Kia Optima that had been stalled on
the tracks. Louisville police said the driver, who later was
arrested for drunk driving, had mistook the railroad tracks
for a road and turned south on them. No one was injured.
In 2011, Stark County had one train-vehicle crash but no injuries
or fatalities.
IMPROVEMENTS
While the county’s crash rate ticked up last year, the
number of railroad crossings that have gates, flashers and
other safety devices also increased. Officials installed improvements
at 40 railroad intersections — by the far the most improvements
in at least a decade. The upgrades included adding flashing
lights and gates to more than a dozen railroad intersections,
replacing 8-inch incandescent lights to 12-inch LED lights
and closing four public crossings.
PUCO Spokesman Jason Gilham said the agency employs certified
railroad inspectors throughout Ohio who routinely inspect the
tracks and equipment as well as respond to public inquiries
and complaints to determine which crossings are upgraded. About
half of Ohio’s 7,000 public rail crossings are now equipped
with flashing lights and gates.
Inspectors last year surveyed the E. Broadway Street railroad
crossing in Alliance and found that it needed new mast-mounted
flashing lights and roadway gates. The project is expected
to cost $478,387 and will be covered by federal funds.
Norfolk Southern Railway, which owns the railroad, is expected
to install the warning devices by February.
STILL UNSAFE
Vicky Moore, founder of Angels on Track, said the upgrades
are welcomed but more still needs to be done as dangerous,
unprotected, sight obstructed railroad crossings still exist.
Beyond the warning devices, Moore, whose foundation seeks to
make railroad crossings safer, said vegetation that blocks
a driver's view of the tracks needs to be trimmed or removed.
She suspected that high vegetation could be one of the contributing
factors to the rise of crashes in the summer.
“The law states that drivers are supposed to yield to an
oncoming train, but how can you yield to something you cannot
see?” she said.
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