Fatal crash raises questions about
safety of Netcher Road crossing
Crash survivor remains in intensive care at Erie hospital
Star Beacon
December 17, 2013
By: SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer
DENMARK TOWNSHIP — Two days after
a Norfolk and Southern train collided with a truck and trailer
on Netcher Road, killing 18-year-old Alva Robert Corron and
critically injuring his cousin, Brent Corron, 20, questions
are being raised about the safety of the railroad crossing.
“The Angels on Track Foundation has received calls regarding
the Netcher Road railroad crossing, calling for action because
it is a dangerous crossing,” said Vicky L. Moore, trustee/founder
of The Angels on Track Foundation, Salineville, Ohio.
Angels on Track supports and promotes the safety of highway
vehicular traffic and pedestrians around railroad grade crossings
in Ohio, and develops programs designed to provide public education
to increase awareness of railroad grade crossing safety.
The railroad crossing at Netcher Road
has no lights, no gates and it’s in a partially wooded area on what the Public
Utilities Commission describes as “a farm road intersection,” according
to its identification report of the site.
Moore said the “farm road” description
means there is very little traffic on the road and it may
be difficult to get Norfolk and Southern to improve the crossing.
Two standard, wooden, crossbuck signs now mark the crossing
that bears 16 trains every day, while an average of 96 vehicles
travel over the tracks every day, according to the Public Utilities
Commission and the Ohio Rail Development Commission.
In addition, the crossing sits at a 60 to 90 degree angle,
according to the report.
Brent Corron, who was the driver in
Saturday’s truck
versus train accident, couldn’t get the truck and trailer
to stop in the snow, slid into the path of the train and was
struck on the passenger’s side where Corron’s cousin,
Alva Corron, was sitting, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol
reports.
Alva Corron was pronounced dead at the
scene by the Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office.
Brent Corron remains hospitalized in the trauma and intensive
care unit at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, officials said.
The Ohio Revised Code says the owner of the railroad is responsible
for maintaining the visibility, including the removal of trees
and vegetation, at the intersection for a distance of 600 feet
from the roadway.
In 2004, on the same railroad tracks but at the Tower Road
crossing in Dorset Township, two teenagers were killed in an
ATV crash. Noah Addair, 14, and Caleb Weldy, 13, both of Dorset
Township, were discovered down an embankment near the railroad
tracks. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
At the time of the crash, only standard, wooden, crossbuck
signs marked the Dorset crossing. After that accident, lights
and gates were installed to upgrade it.
Calls to Norfolk and Southern at its regional office in Pittsburgh
have not been returned.
The crash happened at 11:40 a.m. and traffic
was blocked on Netcher Road for several hours.
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