Union Pacific CAREs about motorists
Stopping a freight train traveling at 20 mph is much more difficult than motorists making a last minute dash through a railroad crossing may anticipate.
In an effort to remind drivers not to rush past the warning devices at railroad crossings, city, county and state law enforcement officers participated Thursday in the Union Pacific Crossing Accident Reduction Enforcement operation.
As part of the operation, State Trooper Johnny Hernandez and Union Pacific Police officer Alfredo Rodriguez rode on a Union Pacific freight train traveling approximately 6 miles from the company's rail switch yard in Olmito to the Silas Ray Power Plant near 13th Street.
The officers would radio other officials positioned at each train intersection to inform them which vehicles had violated the crossing traffic laws.
Law enforcement officials participate in the operation at least twice a year in various cities throughout Texas, including Harlingen, Raymondville, Robstown, Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Rodriguez said.
"We do it in different towns in sporadic moments just to remind people that when they violate the crossing traffic laws, it is unsafe for them as well as the community around them," he said, adding that some train crewmembers haven't returned to the job after witnessing an accident.
"They would remember seeing the drivers faces right before the crash and wouldn't want to go back to work," Rodriguez said. "They were just so traumatized after the accident."
During the last operation in Brownsville in February, officers issued more than 25 citations, Rodriguez said. This year, officers stopped at least one vehicle at each crossing in the 6-mile stretch.
Conducting the train with the officers on board was Fred Roritta, freight train engineer with Union Pacific. He said drivers should stop as soon as crossing warning devices go on because a freight train carries more weight and takes longer to stop than an ordinary vehicle.
"At that point, we are so close that no matter what we do, we wouldn't be able to stop in time," Roritta said.
