CLEARFIELD -- For the past four years, Utah has averaged at least one railroad death per year related to pedestrians trespassing on the rails, based on federal railroad administration statistics.
And after the April 22 death of North Davis Junior High School student Gerardo "JJ" Reyes, 2010 will be no different.
Reyes was hit and killed by a FrontRunner commuter train while in a nonpublic-access area near the tracks that run past Center Street in Clearfield.
The only permanent solution to reducing the number of trespassing-related fatalities and injuries is through more education, officials say.
Union Pacific has 32,000 miles of track in its system that runs through 7,000 communities. The company works closely with the Operation Lifesaver program to educate people that railroad property is unsafe, said Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt.
A dozen Operation Lifesaver presenters in the state attend driver's education courses and provide students with information on rail safety, Hunt said.
In addition, he said, presenters visit schools and meet with Scouting organizations to reinforce the message that it is never safe to be on the railroad right of way.
"We try to create a culture of safety," he said. "Anywhere there are trains is a dangerous place."
But despite the efforts being made, train/pedestrian collisions have continued to occur annually in Utah since 2006.
In 2005, there were no trespassing fatalities and two injuries, but in 2006, there was one fatality. 2007 saw one fatality and two injuries. In 2008, the numbers increased to two fatalities and four injuries before falling back to one fatality and one injury last year.
However, those who provide rail safety education would like to see a return to the 2005 statistics, the last year in which there was no trespassing fatality in the state.
Operation Lifesaver state coordinator Vern Keeslar attributes the statistics to "risky behavior."
"You can teach and teach and teach and educate all you want, but it comes down to personal choice," Keeslar said.
Demographically, those found trespassing range in age from teen years to 34.
Most train/pedestrian collisions occur within 25 miles of the victim's home, Keeslar said.
"That tells us people are complacent, or that they know the area well enough to take a risk."
And fencing isn't the answer, either.
"You could do miles and miles of fencing and not solve the problem," Keeslar said. "People will do pretty much what they can to take the shortcut."
That is why the role of Operation Lifesaver, a national nonprofit organization, is to educate the public with its "Stay Off, Stay Away, Stay Alive" program, directed at trespassing prevention and other aspects of rail safety education.
"The best way for us to move forward is to educate parents and youth," Hunt said.
That includes, he said, reminding those who trespass of the danger of "deceptively quiet" trains, especially around rail yards. Also, it includes reminders that rail lines are private property, with those found trespassing subject to being cited.
Whose responsibility is it to keep the public off the railroad tracks?
"It is everyone's responsibility," said Clearfield Police Chief Greg Krusi.
When his officers find people crossing the FrontRunner and Union Pacific tracks at "nonauthorized" crossings within their city, they write up a trespassing citation.
Based on the bent-down appearance of the 6-foot-tall fence guarding the rails near where the trains run past 300 North in Clearfield, Krusi said, people are scaling the fence instead of using the nearby viaduct to go over the rails.
Others are finding breaks or holes in the fence to make a direct cut across the tracks, he said.
The area where Reyes was struck by the train is not the area where youths are generally found crossing the tracks, Krusi said. But the rate at which youths cross the rails at nonauthorized crossings is "a general problem."
Young people may not understand, Krusi said, that even if they are seen by the train engineer -- based on the size and speed of the train -- the engineer is unable to come to an immediate stop.
Those train/pedestrian accidents that result in a fatality or serious injury are also difficult for the engineer to cope with, Hunt said. After such incidents, peer-to-peer counseling is made available to engineers, as is time away from the job to work through the grieving process.
Updated 11:17 p.m.
Trespassing on tracks can be fatal mistake
CLEARFIELD -- For the past four years the state has averaged at least one railroad death per year, related to pedestrians trespassing on the rails, based on federal railroad administration statistics.
And following the April 22 death of North Davis Junior student Gerardo "J.J." Reyes, 2010 will be no different. Reyes was hit and killed by a FrontRunner commuter train while in a non-public access area near the tracks that run past Center Street in Clearfield.
The only permanent solution to reducing the number of trespassing related fatalities and injuries is through more education, officials say.
The Union Pacific, with 32,000 miles of track in its system that runs through 7,000 communities, works closely with the Operation Lifesaver program to educate people that railroad property is not safe, Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt said.
There are a dozen Operation Lifesaver presenters in the state who attend driver's education courses and provide students with information on rail safety, Hunt said.
In addition, presenters visit schools and meet with scouting organizations, Hunt said, to reinforce the message that it is never safe to be on the railroad right-of-way.
"We try to create a culture of safety," he said. "Anywhere there are trains is a dangerous place."
But despite the efforts being made, train/pedestrian collisions continue to occur annually since 2006.
In 2005, there were no trespassing fatalities and two injuries, while in 2006 there was one fatality and no injuries. In 2007, those numbers increased to one fatality and two injuries, and then increased again in 2008 to two fatalities and four injuries, before falling back to one fatality and one injury last year.
However, those who provide rail safety education would like to see a return to the 2005 statistics, the last year in which there was no trespassing fatality in the state.
Operation Lifesaver state coordinator Vern Keeslar attributes the statistics to "risky behavior."
"You can teach and teach and teach, and educate all you want, but it comes down to personal choice," Keeslar said of the demographic of those found trespassing ranging from teen years to 34 years old.
Most train/pedestrian collisions occur within 25 miles of the victim's home, Keeslar said. "That tells us people are complacent, or that they know the area well enough to take a risk."
And there isn't enough fencing that can be posted, he said, to deter those desiring to take a short cut.
"You could do miles and miles of fencing and not solve the problem," Keeslar said. "People will do pretty much what they can to take the short cut,"
That is why the role of Operation Lifesaver, a national non-profit organization, is to educate the public with its "Stay Off, Stay Away, Stay Alive" program directed at trespassing prevention and other aspects of rail safety education.
"The best way for us to move forward is to educate parents and youth," Hunt said.
That includes, he said, reminding those who trespass of the danger of "deceptively quiet" trains, especially around rail yards. Also, that rail lines are private property, with those found trespassing subject to being cited.
The responsibility of keeping the public off the railroad tracks falls to everybody, Clearfield Police Chief Greg Krusi said.
"It is everyone's responsibility," Krusi said, whose officers, when they find people crossing the FrontRunner and Union Pacific Railroad tracks at "non-authorized" crossings within their city, cite them for trespassing.
Based on the bent-down appearance of the six-foot fence guarding the rails near where the trains runs past 300 North in Clearfield, Krusi said, people are either scaling the fence, or finding a break or hole in the fence to make a direct cut across the tracks, rather than use the nearby viaduct to go over the rails.
The area where Reyes was struck by the train is a different area than where youth are generally found crossing the tracks, Krusi said. But the rate in which youth cross the rails at non-authorized crossings is "a general problem."
Youth may not understand, Krusi said, that even if they are seen by the train engineer, the engineer based on the size and speed of the train is unable to bring it to an immediate stop.
Those train/pedestrian accidents that result in a fatality or serious injury are also difficult for the engineer to cope with. After such incidents, engineers are made available to peer-to-peer counseling and time away from work to work through the grieving process, Hunt said.
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