Portage County Legal News

Rail equipment is focus of bill to bolster crossing safety

KEITH ARNOLD
Legal News Reporter
Published: May 22, 2017

A pair of northeast Ohio lawmakers want motorists to exercise extra caution on the approach to a crossbuck and rail crossing - not just for trains, but for the track maintenance machinery that also glides along the rails.

Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Pro Tem Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, and Youngstown Democrat Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan have proposed House Bill 190, which encourages motorists to watch, listen, and stop for on-track equipment that may be approaching a railroad crossing.

The rationale for implementing such a requirement for drivers, Lepore-Hagan said, is that some of the "train-like" machines are unable to stop abruptly or may not activate rail crossing gates.

"In either case, a collision between a car, truck or motorcycle and rail maintenance equipment can have devastating consequences for everyone involved," she said.

Specifically, HB 190 would make it mandatory for Ohio drivers to stop when maintenance or other types of equipment operated by railroad employees or contractors are approaching or traveling through a railroad crossing.

Under current law, motorists are only required to stop for trains.

"Using care when approaching railroad crossings is one of the first things people are taught when they're learning to drive," Lepore-Hagan said. "But the lesson - and the law - focus on trains even though other equipment regularly travels on the thousands of miles of track that crisscross our state and pass through gated and ungated crossings.

"HB 190 will strengthen the law, raise awareness and make Ohio's motorists, their passengers and railroad workers much safer."

Similar legislation has been enacted in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin Massachusetts, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Schuring said the measure assures state law reflects the real world.

"Railroad and safety awareness has been of great public interest for decades," he said. "With technological advancements in our transportation sector, our laws should reflect these ongoing developments."

Another plus, Lepore-Hagan noted, is that neither the state nor the Department of Transportation would incur costs to implement the law in Ohio.

"This revision of the statutes is supported by rail labor and railroad contractors," Schuring added. "An easy fix to this public safety issue would be inserting 'or other on-track equipment' into current law anywhere it says 'when a train is approaching.'"

Review of HB 190 demonstrates the effect with the addition of the phrase at least 10 times.

Twenty-nine fellow House members of both parties signed on as joint sponsors of the bill.

"Safety is truly a bipartisan issue," Lepore-Hagan said, adding she was pleased to work with Schuring "to make Ohio's railroad crossings safer for all of us."

HB 190, which was not scheduled for hearing as of publication, has been referred to the House Transportation and Public Safety Committee.

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