Maybe they need to make an Operation Lifesaver presentation as part of a requirement to get a driver license.
What is OPERATION LIFESAVER ??
I would think a train bearing down on you would be a great motivator.
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That might be aggravating your back problems. Did you check with your doctor on your car choice?
I donât have back problems myself but being taller I could not find a car I wanted to stoop down into for 5-10 years, so I bought a SUV and they are pretty easy to get in and out for someone that is tall.
Bad design. Road parallels too close to track (this can be fixed fairly easily). Traffic engineer could fix that and Florida could install more overpasses. I see at least one overpass in Fort Pierce over the FEC tracks. They need to build more.
I agree, but they are not likely to add an overpass just to go over those tracks. There is a new north bridge under construction being built in Fort Pierce that has an overpass over the railroad tracks that goes from US1 to the east over the INTER COASTAL, (INDIAN RIVER), to HIGHWAY A1A so you can go north from FORT PIERCE to VERO BEACH.
I am comfortable in my current car and I can get in and out of it OK, I just can not get in and out that car quickly. I have been in other peoples cars that are even a lot worse. One time many many years ago, my wife and I were looking at buying a JEEP CHEROKEE, (2 door), and I almost had to see my CHIROPRACTOR after getting in and out of the back seat. For the most part my back is OK, I just can not get in out that quickly of any car.
The people on the Treasure Coast were told that they need to pay for any additional over/underpasses if they want obstruction free access past the tracks. The county/city highway departments notified them (many times) in public hearings that the railroad had predecessor rights and any crossing improvements are the responsibility of the taxpayer.
This enraged the audience as they considered it outrageous they had to pay to improve a crossing for a private railroad. One county went to a budget hearing and the people protested and had all highway moneys removed to upgrade crossings in their area. ($1.4 million).
Brightline notified the county that they would have to close several crossings in their jurisdiction if they werenât upgraded. The county went to FDOT and a compromise was reached where Brightline helped with some costs, but FDOT basically footed the bill.
Which is kind of a weird that they objected to paying themselves, but they didnât care if taxpayers in another county covered the bill.Sounds kind of hypocritical doesnât it?
Anyone who has followed Brightline since All Aboard Florida knows that they had many fights with the locals to get the needed safety upgrades to their crossings. So (to me), all the moaning and groaning about how Brightline plays it loose on safety, is blowing smoke.
I remember another argument about when Brightline wanted to close a crossing, because the data showed it was lightly used. The city didnât want to pay the millions for the needed crossing upgrades, but the residents nearby had a hernia about it because they were going to have to drive an extra block each way to avoid the closed crossing. When the city told them how much tax money it was going to take to keep the crossing, they changed their minds. The crossing was closed.
I have challenged many of the local press reports on Brightline safety and how in many cases they wanted more safety, but the taxpayers refused and its all Brightlineâs fault and that they should pay for everything no matter whose responsibility it really is.
I even called out a major railroad trade publication for inaccurate reporting on Brightline and showed them the facts. (Never heard back)
If I think Brightline is deficient, I have no problem calling them out on it (and I have in the past) but lately the press is looking for answers, but refusing to look at all the facts behind it. Narratives that suit ratings, sales and attention seem to be more important when it comes to reporting on safety.
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To me it seems that in Florida the BRIGHTLINE FLORIDA TRAIN CORPORATION has power over many elected OFFICIALS to get its own way. Like this new safety LAW in FLORIDA, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2026 that is not retroactive to the section from MIAMI to ORLANDO.
I was able to find this photograph on-line. I am glad your AUNT was OK. I hope they better mark the pavement in any area if this happens anywhere else.
How many of the deaths were suicide-by-train?
Regarding costs, while it is true that the local and/ or state entities typically pay the capital and installation costs of grade crossing upgrades, the costs of ongoing maintenance usually fall to the railroad. I suspect that after enough time, the maintenance costs paid by the railroad can far exceed whatever the installation costs were.
There may be exceptions to this based on local agreements, but I believe this is the general rule in most, if not all, of the US.
Assuming this is true for Brightline, they are not getting a âfree rideâ on costs when crossings are upgraded.
In my experience - Florida is among the WORST jurisdictions for having roads paralleling the railroad on each side and having cross streets crossing the tracks with little to no space between the parallel street and the railroad for vehicles to be CLEAR of the railroad when stopped for a traffic signal. Drivers, for whatever their reasons, donât think railroads operate trains on those tracks and stop ON them to await the operation of the traffic signal.
It must also be understood, the MEâs are under heavy pressure from families and others to show the deaths as anything but suicide. I feature the actual suicide toll could be as much as 30% higher.
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Itâs rules on how to drive properly around railroads. Iâm amazed youâve never heard of it. Then again your posts about railroads clearly show you do not.
Iâve got to believe Florida has this. If they donât then this explains why theyâre so dysfunctional around railroads. Lifesaver explains very clearly the dangers of stopping on tracks. We learn simply never to do that.
I took an Operation Lifesaver (OL) class, probably around 15 years ago, at a CSX facility in Selkirk. After the class, one had to do a presentation twice in the presence of a another fully trained OL presenter before being âsigned offâ as a OL presenter. Problem was, the local (NY) OL management never offered any opportunities for me to do those presentations, and never responded to my inquiries about how to set one up. So I ended up never giving even a single presentation.
With the prevalence of various types of retirement communities, it does seem like Florida presents a particularly fertile environment for this type of work. I just wonder if OL has enough trained presenters and a sufficient infrastructure to deliver the message in a quantity to make a meaningful difference.
So I canât speak for Florida. However,I have seen this pan out is the railroad constructs there line and plots out the private roads and plots along those roads they later sell via railroad or real estate arm to settlers. Over time those private roads become public and depending on when they become public they are either improved, abandoned or whatever. Hence the railroad once they no longer own the private road says it is no longer their issue. In some cases the railroad still owns some of the private roads near the tracks.
The road paralleling the FEC ROW was probably Ok back when it was constructed and there was probably not the development or the traffic. What I noticed with Florida back when my Parents lived in Bonita Springs (West Coast)âŚthe state was all about development and letting developers do whatever they wanted. Florida originated as a poor state income wise (Miami / Naples areas an exception) and so they generally want the property tax revenue no matter what.
So looking at that parallel road along the ROW over time and historically I am going to presume the involved cities or counties or states never redeveloped it as the growth exploded around it. So you are left with a traffic nightmare. I have seen this scenario played out in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, etc. Common issue as it is hard to get taxpayers to foot the bill for anything. I had trouble in my HOA getting my HOA to foot the bill for improvements that they are paying for now.
I donât agree with some of the other posters on here it is solely the drivers fault or always the drivers fault. You can definitely see some bad railroad crossings on the FEC because the engineering involving the road crossing is so bad. Additionally the gates in the United States are kind of stupidly designed to break away in an accident (nobody wants to break them if they are actually stuck between the gates it seems) and they have no slide under protection either in case say a motorcycle tips or slides under the gate. Some of the older European gates have a slide under barrier that collapses. Also some of the European crossings use a steel tube across the road te hat does not break away. I guess this is a safety debate as well (pro vs con).
I donât think Florida is much different than many other states when it comes to roads next to railroads. Chicagoâs Metra has a extremely high level of parallelism with roads on all their routes.
I know Metra has had some similar issues with crossing safety and suicides. I was even riding a Metra consist at 7AM when it slammed a drunk driver who crossed the gates at Melrose Park. ( The driver survived).
I saw an elderly woman start walking across 3 tracks slowly and the gates started coming down after she started across. She clearly could not hear the the bells, the train horn or us yelling at her fervently to turn around. A MOW worker tried to grab her at the last second but missed and she was killed. This crossing had pedestrian gates, but they came down after she started.
Suicide? No. The ME said her hearing aids were turned way down.
The point I am making is that you canât compensate for all conditions at all times in all places against all type of human conditions. The exception is negligence or fraud by a railroad. And I donât think Brightline has been either.
Who designed the road crossing? NOT THE FEC. The state creates the issue with bad crossing design.