When Safety And Convenience Collide

In yesterday’s , I noted an item about drivers going around the crossing arms, which were down despite the fact that no trains were coming. A reader wrote to say that the drivers were looking out for each other, no trains were coming from either direction, and people were cooperative and kind. And that is great. Except…

When you write news for a living in a town where there are railroad tracks, there tend to be at least a few stories about vehicles vs. trains. And the trains always, always win. People generally wonder how the driver of the car or truck wound up on the tracks to begin with, and didn’t get out of the way.

Well, sometimes the driver is playing “chicken” with the train, and loses. Sometimes the driver is not sober. And sometimes the driver is going around the crossing arms when they’re down, because it doesn’t seem like any trains are coming.

This is not to discount the enormous inconvenience and arrogance of the train companies when their equipment doesn’t work correctly. Having worked for this city in the past, I can tell you there aren’t any companies quite as arrogant or uncaring about the public than the railroad companies. For proof, just look at the trestle on Alhambra Avenue and Highway Four. For many years, the city has tried to get Union Pacific to paint that rusty structure. And for years, UP has declined, saying it’s fine and there is no public hazard.

So when the crossing arms come down at Ferry Street, and traffic piles up on both sides for no apparent reason, and nothing can apparently be done about it, it is extremely tempting to just go around the arms. I get that. Here’s the problem.

There are cars on both sides. It’s great if they cooperate, but what happens if a driver on one side decides to go out of turn, while the car on the other side is already on their way over? Now you’ve got a scenario where both cars are stuck on the tracks. And then, suddenly, a train does show up.

I know – it’s a disaster scenario. But as I said before, when you write news in a town with train tracks, there are too many stories of trains vs. cars. And the cars always, always lose.

WEATHER:

Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming sunny. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the mid 90s. West winds 5 to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

EVENTS:

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1868 - The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is certified, establishing African-American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.

1932 - U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.

1996 - The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.

2005 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.