On April 14th and 17th, officers from the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, the North Judson Police Department (K-9 officer), and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District conducted two four hour enforcement projects targeting vehicles that disregard traffic control devices and violate rail safety laws. The two separate details were conducted at railroad crossings on Virginia Street and Fourth Avenue in Gary, as well as at Calumet Avenue and Chicago Street in Hammond.
These specific locations were picked because of numerous complaints of commercial motor vehicles disregarding traffic control devices and violating rail safety rules and regulations. The crossings are in industrial areas with a lot of truck and train traffic. Officers issued 12 citations for various traffic violations. They also issued 30 written warnings.
During the enforcement projects troopers also inspected 19 commercial motor vehicles looking for unsafe equipment and paperwork violations. Officers found a total of 63 violations. Eight trucks were placed out of service for various violations of federal commercial motor vehicle regulations.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration there were approximately 2.280 train/vehicle crashes in 2014. Those crashes resulted in approximately 267 deaths and 832 injuries. A motorist is almost 20 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision involving another motor vehicle.
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