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Metrolink Officials Partner with Law Enforcement to Cut Down on Pedestrian and Motorist Traffic Violations on Train Tracks
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/smith-people-tracks-2636881-starr-stop
Metrolink teamed up with several Orange County Law Enforcement organizations this morning to conduct a widespread traffic citation sweep as part of the California Operation Lifesaver Program, the Orange County Register reports.
Operation Lifesaver is a national non-profit program with individual chapters in many states whose goals are education, enforcement and engineering of California’s rail-crossing stops, according to the California Operation Lifesaver website. The program often gives presentations to school groups and emergency responder organizations in addition to aiding law enforcement in conducting traffic sweeps. In this morning’s sweep, 233 citations were issued and six people were arrested for violating rail-crossing laws.
One of the most common ways that pedestrians break the law and put themselves at risk is by crossing train tracks as a short cut. This is especially dangerous because trains cannot stop quickly, and the noise emitted from a train is often heard to the side of the train tracks, not to the front. Motorists too are at risk, when they try to beat the flashing lights that signal an approaching train.
The problem of pedestrian-train and motorist-train collisions can be reduced by taking the safety precautions (and following the law) that Operation Lifesaver and Orange County law enforcement promoted today by their sweep. Please protect yourself and your loved ones by avoiding the use of train tracks as a short cut on foot and by stopping behind the flashing rail crossing lights as soon as they start to flash when driving.
Sometimes safe, law-abiding pedestrians and motorists still find themselves the victims of serious train accidents. Train accidents have a higher likelihood of resulting in serious injuries than car accidents due to their sheer size and weight. If you or someone you know has been injured in a train accident and believe that another party is responsible, please contact experienced personal injury attorneys who understand how train accidents can disrupt and damage your life and fight aggressively to recover the maximum compensation that you need to move on.