Drivers Never Win When Racing A Train

You’re already late for work when the railroad crossing gates start flashing.

For a brief second you think “I can beat it.” Then you watch aghast as another driver rushes across the intersection in front the oncoming train.

About five or six times a day across the United States, a train and a vehicle will collide at an intersection, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration.

National Rail Safety Week runs from Sept. 23 to 29, and the National Safety Council and the Illinois Chapter of Operation Lifesaver are using the opportunity to remind people to be safe. 

To get the point across, they've interviewed a conductor for Union Pacific Railroad who was part of a collision that involved a fatality. 

The message is simple: Never attempt to beat a train. 

Collisions between trains and vehicles have largely declined since the 1980s. More than 9,000 such incidents occurred in 1981, while 2017 saw around 2,100.