Operation Life Saver has teamed up with the Idaho State Police for compliant checks at railroad crossings in Boise and Meridian.
Every three hours in the United States, a person or a vehicle gets hit by a train. We have had five deaths this year alone at crossings in Idaho, including the recent tragedy involving teen Jaydyn Ramos in Payette.
"We still have collisions that affect the motorist, it affects the train crew, and it affects everybody," said Tim Johnson of Operation Life Saver. "We want people to comply with the law, it’s all about safety and saving lives."
Idaho Law states that drivers need to stop at least 15 feet before a controlled crossing. Drivers also need to yield to the train and not proceed through an intersection when a train is closer than 1,500 feet, the engineer will blow his horn at this point.
The Idaho State Police had an officer on the train communicating with officers on the street when a motorist blatantly broke the law at a crossing. We saw the police make a couple of motorist stops, but for the most part, drivers did a good job during Operation Life Saver.
"I’m very impressed, that is good," said Jake Link, the train engineer with Boise Valley Railroad. "It’s not like we can turn, you know what I mean?"
Operation Life Saver makes it their mission to eliminate incidents with trains, and they have seen an 82 percent reduction in incidents between 1972 and 2019. However, one accident is too many, so they continue to do compliant checks to remind drivers of the importance of being vigilant.
"We’ve lost five Idahoans this past year due to train crossings, and they have all come down to compliance with railroad crossings," said Johnson. "The trains can’t stop and cars have to yield to trains."
