WALLINGFORD, Conn. — Every three hours in the United States, a person or vehicle is struck by a train.
Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit working to get that statistic down to zero, marked the start of Rail Safety Week on Monday alongside state, local and federal leaders.
A group of lawmakers, police and fire personnel gathered at the Wallingford train station to get the word out about staying safe on and off the tracks.
Officials said the main problem in Connecticut is people trespassing on the tracks. It is illegal to trespass on the tracks since they're private property, and it's also very dangerous.
Trains simply cannot stop in time when they see someone in sight. For most trains, it takes at least a mile to come to a complete stop. Because of trespassers and other collisions involving vehicles, the state saw 24 railway fatalities over the last three or more years.
“It’s important that the community realizes how fast the trains are going now and in addition how often the trains are coming through the community," said Det. Robert Hanson with the Amtrak Police Department.
Operation Lifesaver volunteers want the public to pay more attention at railroad crossings, where more than half of most incidents take place across the country.
“If you come up to a crossing and there’s not enough room on the other side for you, don't commit unless you fit. So you should stop before the crossing and only go over the crossing if you have enough room to clear the tracks," said Kevin Burns, CT Operation Lifesaver State Coordinator, who also works for CT Department of Transportation Office of Railroads.
Burns said drivers need to stop, look and listen when entering a rail crossing. If they see the lights and cross gates coming down, drivers need to stay behind the white line at a safe distance from the tracks. Once the gates come up, they can proceed with caution.
If for some reason the driver gets stuck on the tracks due to a collision, Burns recommends getting out of the car and running away from the car in the direction of the train at a 45-degree angle. That way if there is any flying debris in a collision, it won't hit and potentially kill the pedestrian.
"There's a lot of victims involved in every time there's a train-related incident. You have the engineer who's a victim, you have family members that are victims, and a community that are victims. All for a preventable incident," Hanson said.
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