BILL REMAINS ON TRACK

Railroad crossing legislation clears a state House committee

A bill that seeks to give law enforcement the ability to cite railroads that block track-road intersections for longer than 10 minutes without good reason remained on track Wednesday.

Members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives' Transportation Committee gave a “do pass” recommendation, without opposition, to a committee substitute for House Bill 2472 authored by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka.

The bill, which next goes to the House for consideration, would authorize law enforcement officers to write citations to railroads in appropriate situations, allowing for fines of up to $10,000 per occurrence to be assessed.

The language committee members considered Wednesday in the bill's amended version includes existing Oklahoma Corporation Commission rules railroads are expected to follow (commission rules do not include fines, however).

While the bill would prohibit a stopped rail car from blocking vehicular traffic at an intersection of tracks and a public road and highway for longer than 10 minutes, it also would waive that restriction if the train were stopped because of an accident, derailment, critical mechanical failure, a washout of track or bridge or other emergency condition or order.

[THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES] A train passes recently through a road-rail intersection in downtown Edmond. A pending House bill, if made law, could allow law enforcement officers to fine railroads in cases where a stopped train blocks such a location for longer than 10 minutes.