Western Springs Police Enforcing Rail Safety Today

Officers of the Western Springs Police Department and other local law-enforcement agencies will be patrolling all Village railway crossings today (Thursday) as part of the “Police on Board for Rail Safety” program.

The officers will be stationed at the Village’s five vehicle and pedestrian railroad crossings and “strictly enforcing” pedestrian and vehicle laws. The program is funded by a dual grant from the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Federal Railroad Commission.

While all laws will be enforced, no penalties will be given out for mild violations, said Village Officer Danielle Stevens.

“We don’t ticket here—we educate,” said Stevens. “There will be no punitive action taken.”

Stevens said that the most common railway crossing violation in Western Springs is for pedestrians and vehicles to jump the gun on crossing the tracks before a gate has been fully raised after a train passes.

Since three sets of tracks run through the Village, and only Metra trains are on a schedule (freight trains are not), it is possible that another train could be coming in immediately after the last one. As the Department puts it: “any time is train time.”

“We really encourage people to stop and wait for that gate to go all the way up and the red lights to stop flashing before they cross,” said Stevens.

Also a common violation: failing to stop when red lights begin flashing before the gates descent. “Red flashing lights mean stop; the gate is a secondary deterrent,” said Stevens.

A release from the WSPD stated that there were 20 fatalities at train crossings in Illinois in 2010, half involving pedestrians.

“Remember,” the Department release says, “trains always win.”