Do Not Cross

I'm sure lots of folks around the country have seen one of these from time to time. They are railroad crossings. They usually have lights and bells, and many have a swing arm that comes down to block the roadway so that trains can pass safely without hitting vehicles or pedestrians.

So why is it that people think that those lights and bells and swing arms are optional?

What is so damned important that you have to outrace a train to cross the tracks?

If you have a car, SUV or a truck versus a train, the train is always going to win.

Still, within the past few weeks, two drivers thought that they could outrun a speeding locomotive and avoid the signals in New Jersey.

An incident in Garfield, NJ this morning happened to involve the train that my dad was on. Mrs. Lawhawk was on the train directly behind the one that was involved in the incident.

Both of them were delayed for more than an hour because someone thought they could beat the train.

Police said Arias drive around the downed gates and was struck by the train at 8:08 a.m. The impact caused the minivan to slam into a second gate at the crossing, severely damaging the mechanism, Stessel said.

The train conductor saw the vehicle go around the gates and hit the emergency brake, Stessel said, but was unable to stop in time. A subsequent investigation by NJ Transit found that ‘the gates came down properly well in advance of the train's arrival and that the flashing lights and the gates and bells were all working as intended,’ Stessel said.

Arias was also issued two summonses by NJ Transit: failure to obey a railroad crossing signal and careless driving, Stessel said.

Transit workers were still restoring the damaged gate at the Garfield crossing and were expecting to have the repairs finished by Wednesday. The work was not expected to impact the evening rush hour commute, Stessel said.

The driver was also transporting her 1-year old child, who was also injured in the incident. The child was not in a child-safety seat as well.

In other words, the child was extremely fortunate to be alive because of her mom's monumental stupidity.

The two men involved in a similar incident on September 17, 2007, weren't so lucky. They were killed.

It is also a coincidence that the incidents occurred on the NJ Transit Bergen Line.

The lesson today is that if you see one of these railroad crossings, don't even think of outrunning a closed gate or slipping past to get to the other side. You're playing with fire and may well end up dead.