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Post Info TOPIC: UP notes safety milestone at Nebraska rail crossings


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UP notes safety milestone at Nebraska rail crossings
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UP notes safety milestone at Nebraska rail crossings

(The following appeared on the North Platte Bulletin website on June 9, 2010.)

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. Union Pacific is celebrating a milestone in safety -- more than 200 days without a collision at a grade-crossing in Nebraska.

The last private-crossing collision occurred in November 2009 on UPs North Platte Service Unit, which encompasses most of its 1,067 miles of rails in Nebraska.

All of the Union Pacific North Platte Service Unit employees want to thank the thousands of drivers who have obeyed warning devices at grade crossings, said Chad Wilbourn, Union Pacifics general superintendent transportation services North Platte Service Unit.

Wilbourn also thanked the employees who reported unsafe driver behavior at grade crossings, because they help us determine where drivers need to be reminded of the railroad crossing laws, he said.

In 2009, there were 41 highway-railroad grade crossing collisions in Nebraska resulting in nine deaths and 18 injuries, compared to 48 collisions resulting in two deaths and 20 injuries in 2008.

These figures include all Nebraska railroads and public as well as private crossing collisions.

Teaming up in Kearney

Law enforcement representatives from Union Pacific Railroad Police and the Buffalo County Sheriffs Office recently teamed up to remind motorists of highway-railroad grade crossing laws as part of a program called Union Pacifics Crossing Accident Reduction Education and Safety (UP CARES).

For their own safety, we ask drivers to heed the warning devices at crossings and today they did, said Michael Wilson, Union Pacific Railroad police.

Railroad and local law enforcement officers did not issue any citations to motorists for highway-railroad grade crossings violations.

The Kearney area was chosen by the UP CARES task force for this enforcement effort because of reports from Union Pacific employees and local officials of continued violations by motorists who do not obey the warning devices at area crossings. The UP CARES task force is made up of Union Pacific police officers that work with city, county and state police officers to enforce highway-railroad grade crossing laws.

UP CARES is part of the Operation Lifesaver program, where police officers ride on trains to observe motorist behavior at highway-railroad grade crossings. If a motorist violates the grade crossing traffic laws, the officer on the train radios to an officer positioned near the crossing, who can issue the motorist a citation.

Operation Lifesaver is a national safety program supported by state and federal agencies, railroads and rail labor, intended to educate the public about the dangers at highway-railroad grade crossings.

Thursday, June 10, 2010



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