Community Roll Call

Members of the Wauwatosa Police Department's Community Support Division, with backup provided by the folks at WauwatosaNow.com, are now blogging. We will be providing you with an ongoing series of crime prevention tips, any current crime trends as well as pertinent news and notes as it relates to your Police Department.

Railroad Crossing Safety Part I

Safety, Auto, Pedestrian

The next few blog postings will contain information from Operation Lifesaver. This information is published in an effort to educate motorists and pedestrians in the hopes that we can prevent needless tragedies at railroad crossings.

In this first posting I want to just lay out some facts as it relates to “Grade crossings”, those crossings where trains tracks and roads intersect at the same level. These are national statistics provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Wisconsin’s Operation Lifesaver program.

  • A vehicle – train crash occurs about every 115 minutes
  • One motorist is killed daily in vehicle – train crashes
  • A motorist is 20 times more likely to die in a vehicle – train crash than in other motor vehicle accidents
  • More people die in highway – rail crashes each year than in airplane crashes
  • Over 65% of grade crossing crashes occur at crossings where active warning devices exist
  • Most vehicle – train crashes occur at grade crossings within 25 miles of the motorist’s home

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