ILLINOIS ORDERED TO IMPROVE RAIL CROSSING SAFETY
Earlier this month, the federal government ordered Illinois (and nine other states) to develop plans to reduce the number of accidents at railroad crossings or risk lossing funding.
According to the Chicago Tribune, since 2006, Illinois has had approximately 588 grade-crossing accidents involving trains, vehicles and/or pedestrians, which resulted in 98 deaths. Illinois has the second-highest number of rail-crossing accidents in the nation, after Texas.
The federal government's new rule requires the 10 targeted states to develop specific solutions for improving safety, while focusing on crossings where multiple accidents have occurred and locations that are considered at high risk for accidents.
According to the Tribune, state officials "said they are working with communities along Amtrak's Chicago-to-St. Louis route … to close as many of the approximately 300 crossings along the route as possible; to install improved protective gates at the remaining crossings to keep vehicles off the tracks when trains are approaching; to build overpasses and tunnels; and to line pedestrian areas near tracks with fencing to deter people from trespassing on tracks."
The rule becomes effective Aug. 27, 2010.
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll have experience handling railroad injury cases. In fact, early this year Jeff Kroll published an article entitled "Handling a Railroad Crossing Case" in the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Trial Journal. You can read his entire article here.
