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There has been an ever increasing problem with light rail collisions in the Twin Cities.  The Minneapolis Tribune recently reported:

To date, there have been 107 crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles on the Blue Line, which has been running along Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis since 2004. There have been 60 on the Green Line, which runs between downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and largely along University Avenue, since service began in June 2014.

As a result Metro Transit is looking at changing a number of things they do including:

  •  Inspect bells, flashing lights and crossing signals; review safety procedures
  •  Install new signs to educate pedestrians and motorists on how to stay safe around trains
  •  Paint pavement markings that steer pedestrians and bicyclists from unsafe areas
  •  Launch pilot project to tweak motorist warning signs so that lights on the signs will blink when trains pass by
  •  Posting signs in multiple languages, or using ­easily identifiable graphics, to ­better inform passengers of possible dangers.
  •  Installing swing gates to force pedestrians to pause and scan the horizon before crossing the tracks.
  •  Making sure that traffic lights at nearby intersections are set to give pedestrians more time to cross the street and reach rail platforms.

Hopefully these changes and more awareness will help.

Light rails collisions happen, considering the weight of the trains verses anything they hit, the property and personal damage is always quite considerable. Past national light rail accident reports suggest that on average, light rail trains kill three times as many people for every billion passengers miles it carries as passenger buses. When lights and signals are not timely the injury potential is clear and oninouse.

If you or someone you know has been injured by a train or railroad negligence, you should call a lawyer for a free consultation.

Also see:

Railroad Injury Limits Finally Increased!, Joe Crumley |

 

 

2 Comments

  1. Gravatar for Kim A Pedersen
    Kim A Pedersen

    And they make fun of monorails. No, trains in traffic is a brilliant idea!

    1. Mike Bryant

      Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. Very true they are playing with danger there.

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