Auto-train crashes on the rise in 2010

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

After a three-year period of consecutive lows, the number of automobile-train collisions in Illinois was up in 2010, according to a safety group.

Fatalities from crashes at public railroad crossings were up 50 percent — at 21 for the first nine months of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009, said Chip Pew, state coordinator of the Illinois Operation Lifesaver program, which aims to reduce the number of collisions. A national safety awareness campaign launches today to remind motorists to pay attention at rail crossings and to discourage them from trying to beat trains.

In 2007, there were 130 collisions in Illinois; then 129 in 2008; and down to 80 in 2009 — when the recession left fewer cars and trains in motion, Pew said. Vehicle traffic was down by 30 percent, while train traffic was down by about 20 percent.

“There was less of an opportunity for the two to meet,” Pew said.

The number of collisions in 2010 are likely at about 129, he said.

“We’re trying to once again focus people’s attention on dangers of trying to beat the trains,” Pew said.

A train traveling at 100 miles per hour can appear to be barely moving, he said.

A 100-car freight train travelling 55 miles per-hour can take more than a mile to stop.

“I think people sometimes think, ‘Here comes the train. It’ll stop before it hits me,’ Pew said. “A train that big can be millions of pounds. And all that mass takes time to stop.”

Illinois is the hub for the nation’s more than 50 railroads, and has about 7,200 miles of track and about 8,000 public rail crossings.