In the United States, an average of three people are injured or killed every day on railroad property and Florida has among the highest number of train fatalities in the country. In fact, two Florida counties rank in the top 10 most dangerous in the nation for railroad trespasser casualties, which occur when someone enters railroad property that is prohibited for public use. Between Nov. 2013 and Oct. 2017, Florida’s Broward County ranked fifth, with 51 fatalities, and Palm Beach County ranked sixth, with 47 fatalities. And just recently, a 43-year-old man got hit by a train and killed on March 7 at a Broward County rail crossing while crossing the tracks.
In response to the alarming frequency of these incidents, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published a comprehensive report that identified and discussed contributing factors and potential solutions to railroad trespassing fatalities. The FRA’s report acknowledged that current safety approaches, which are largely based in community outreach and education, are insufficient and that engineering solutions should be utilized as well. One such solution is for private rail lines to implement fencing around their tracks to prevent trespassing.
Railroad companies have a history or resisting this solution. For example, one Minnesota train accident that caused an 11-year-old boy to lose his leg prompted local outcry for the tracks to be fenced off. A representative from the involved company, BNSF Railway, responded by claiming fencing would not prevent trespassing. Instead, BNSF decided to keep using “public safety education efforts, patrolling, and posting of no trespassing signs” to increase train safety awareness.
According to peer-reviewed scientific research, this is simply not effective. One study, published in the Accident Analysis & Prevention journal, found that fencing reduced trespassing by 94.6%. This is over three times higher than the 30.7% percent reduction that occurred when prohibitive signs were used.
While installing and maintaining fencing around train tracks will be both time-consuming and expensive, neither are valid reasons for train companies to disregard the clear public safety benefits fencing offers. It is time for these companies to take action to eliminate the safety risks their trains cause.
