Local, state officials call for public to keep safety in mind around trains

The rails squeak as the brakes are applied continuously on a special passenger train early in June that rode through Northwest Georgia in an effort to help educate leaders and the media of the important of paying attention and being safe around train tracks.

It was a pleasant, uneventful ride for local leaders like State Representative Trey Kelley and State Senator Bill Heath, but along the way organizers played a video on overhead screens to remind everyone the importance of this particular ride. Replayed over and over, the video shows a truck trying to beat a small train heading down the tracks, then failing and being struck right in the passenger side.

A loud “oooh” reverberated through the train as the video replayed. It made the point. Being safe around trains should be in the forefront of drivers and pedestrians everywhere.

Just last week proves this point valuable. Christian Hall of Ringgold was struck and killed by a train in Catoosa County on June 25, and the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office announced a body was found on a train in Cartersville.

All within a week of each other.

Its exactly the kind of message that Rick Harris, the director of corporate communications for Norfolk Southern, is trying to get across with a tour of cities and towns across the south as part of the Operation Lifesaver campaign.

Harris said despite the need for more signals at railroad crossings across not only the state, but the country as a whole, safety measures like don’t work as well as both Norfolk Southern and state governments would hope.

“More than half of all crashes are at signaled crossings,” he said. “All crossing signals are only as good as the motoring public’s willingness to obey those signals.”

According to Jennie Glasgow of Georgia Operation Lifesaver, said motorists aren’t the only problem. Pedestrians use train tracks – both abandoned and in continuous use – to find shortcuts for walking, or just because they are interested. She said this is not only dangerous, but illegal.

“Tracks are private property, and you’re breaking the law by trespassing, but also you’re putting your life at risk,” she said.

Harris said if motorists and pedestrians alike used more caution when around rail lines, the number of accidents per year across the nation would fall.

“Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of motorists and pedestrians to be aware of where they are and pay attention to signals,” he said.

For good reason. A typical Norfolk Southern train running through Polk County in Rockmart is miles long and carrying hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo. A train of that size going at 60 to 65 mph doesn’t stop on a dime.

Local officials said fortunately, major incidents in Polk County have been few and far between. Cedartown Fire Chief Sammy Stephens said he wasn’t able to remember a recent incident involving trains and cars or trains and pedestrians, but that no matter what happens on the railroad his firefighters are ready.

“In fact, we’re looking at having a safety class involving Norfolk Southern trains coming up later this year,” he said.

Those safety classes include how to deal with hazardous materials if a train were to crash in Polk County.

For state officials like Kelley, there’s not a simple solution to the problem of how to keep individuals safe when trains are rolling down the lines in Georgia, but he’s committed to doing something.

“It’s a top priority for us at the state to make sure the citizens are safe,” he said. “It takes both parties being responsible, and I appreciate the efforts Norfolk takes to educate the public about the proper safety around trains. As much as we can legislate trying to make our crossings safer, we ultimately need people to be responsible and follow the laws that are out there.”