REGINA – The loud horn blast serves warning as a locomotive approaches a highway crossing – but it isn’t always enough to prevent a collision.
“You always wonder, ‘Is there anything else I could have done?'” said Mike Regimbal, the national director for Operation Lifesaver Canada.
A crash on Jan. 9 near Raymore, Sask. claimed the life of a semi-truck driver – one of two fatalities already this year in the province, following a crash in Moosomin on Wednesday.
Collisions between vehicles and trains often leave operators helpless.
“Eventually, they can understand they were really not in control of that situation,” Regimbal said of train conductors and engineers.
“They themselves are innocent victims.”
Victims, who often suffer injuries in crashes with vehicles.
Even using an emergency break, freight train operators are sometimes unable to stop for up to two kilometres – which puts the onus on drivers.
“When approaching a railway crossing, they should slow down, be aware of their surroundings, look both ways,” said Sgt. Craig Cleary of RCMP ‘F’ Division.
Cleary adds that most collisions with trains occur because of driver error.
“Maybe turn down the heater, maybe turn down the radio so you can hear if a train horn is echoing in the distance,” Cleary said.
This week’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention heard communities express worries about the speed of trains, suggesting some collisions have been caused by exceeding the limit.
“When the trains are moving faster, typically they’re concerned about the condition of the rail lines,” said Debra Button, SUMA president and Weyburn mayor. “There is an opportunity for an accident to happen.”
While the driver of a car can’t control a train’s speed or condition of the tracks, RCMP and safety advocates say they can do their part to ensure they’re not the cause of another rail tragedy.
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