CURRENT
LAW FAILS TO SERVE VICTIMS OF TRAIN-CAR ACCIDENTS
Railroads hold all the cards
By DENNIS AND VICKY
MOORE
Each year freight
trains and cars collide more than 4,000 times, resulting
in more than 400 deaths. In the safest year in railroad history,
1999, 402 people were killed and 1,369 were seriously injured.
Can you imagine our legislators allowing the airline industry
the freedom to accumulate yearly statistics representing
such a staggering loss of life?
When a train-car
accident occurs at a dangerous railroad crossing, local law
enforcement agencies are powerless to help the victims and
families with vital resources and information because federal
law pre-empts state law. Most railroad accidents are reported
to the Federal Railroad Administration. Only by hiring legal
representation and court orders can families obtain valuable
accident information and data that can determine the cause
of such preventable tragedies.
The first five to
10 weeks after an accident are the most critical. The NTSB
gathers statistics from the Federal Railroad Administration;
however, the NTSB is the only agency with the authority to
fully investigate such fatal crashes, the same as airline
crashes.
As parents of a
child killed at a dangerous, unprotected railroad crossing,
we understand the frustration and helplessness after such
tragedies. The first people on the scene usually are railroad
claims agents or railroad police, followed by emergency personnel,
who have been trained by the railroads on how to investigate
and handle such collisions.
U.S. Rep Collin
Peterson, D-Minn., has introduced the Fatal Grade Crossing
Accident Investigations Act, H.R. 1942. It would require
the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate all
crashes between a train and a motor vehicle that result in
a fatality.
If
signed into law, it would require mandatory toxicology
tests on railroad employees (required or routinely done
on all motorists) in addition to immediate submission of
the "black box"
data and event recorders to local law enforcement agencies.
These data record safety procedures of the train crew and verify
whether the safety equipment at the crossing was functioning
properly, as well as whether safety procedures were followed.
Currently, this information is turned over to the railroad
company involved
for analysis and a final report.
We encourage everyone
interested in seeing the NTSB perform accurate, independent
investigations of all fatal railroad grade-crossing accidents
without influence or prejudice, to call or write their congressman
and state legislators and ask for their support of this very
important bill that will save lives.
Dennis and Vicky
Moore of Lawrence Township founded the Angels on Track Foundation
after their son was killed in a 1995 car-train collision.
The foundation is devoted to getting flashing lights and
gates installed at dangerous crossings throughout Ohio. A
$5.4 million jury award allows the foundation to assist counties
that need money for improvements.
|
