LIMA — With the number of trains that go through Lima and Allen County daily, teaching pedestrian safety around railroad tracks is crucially important.
On Friday, railroad safety education non-profit organization Operation Lifesaver Ohio held an educational event for area youth at Lima’s Town Square, emphasizing the need to be mindful when crossing railroad tracks.
“Today is International Level Crossing Awareness Day,” Operation Lifesaver volunteer Rick Sanchez said. “The message is being delivered in 61 countries over six continents. So it’s a big day for us.”
In Lima, the message was delivered to young people via Chalk One Up for Safety, a program in which youth are educated on railroad crossing safety and reiterate that message to the public through sidewalk chalk art.
“We’re talking to kids about railroad right-of-way, not to be crossing trains or random areas on tracks,” Sanchez said. “We want them to stop, look both ways, listen for the horns and then cross carefully. If you see tracks, think train.”
With trains able to travel up to 100 miles per hour on standard tracks, even seemingly quiet crossings could soon find a train fast approaching, according to Sanchez. He also noted that, even with trains traveling through the city at 30 miles per hour, they do not stop on a dime.
“The average stopping distance for one freight train that’s one mile long is 18 football fields,” he said. “Also, the days of running one-mile trains are over. Now, we’re running two-mile or three-mile trains, and the longer the train, the more weight it’s carrying and the longer it takes to stop.”
With pedestrians often tempted to walk in between rail cars while a train is stopped, Sanchez noted that even seemingly stationary trains could still be moving farther ahead.
“We call it slack action,” he said. “It may take 15 seconds for that train car to actually start moving. If you’re in the process of stepping across, terrible things could happen.”
Sanchez was hopeful that the nearly 50 children who attended the event left with a greater understanding and respect for the dangers that come with railroad crossings.
“Our goal is no deaths in Lima,” he said.
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