A couple of years ago on a Saturday morning, Union Pacific track crews were working on the railroad tracks in Morgan Hill. Several times during that morning, the crossing gates on Dunne and San Pedro avenues were down at the same time. One time, both crossings were blocked for about 20 minutes. There was no train coming, but the gates were down, the lights were flashing and the bells were ringing.
Traffic backed up. On Dunne, the eastbound backup extended to at least Monterey Road. I know because I was stuck just east of Church Street. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that sitting in traffic waiting for a train that wasn’t coming was anything but frustrating. Then I laughed with an ironic chuckle when a few minutes later, a line of cars behind me, crossed the median strip, drove eastbound in the westbound lanes and went around the down crossing gates.
Those folks were lucky. They certainly couldn’t have known whether or not a train was coming. I didn’t know it, and I was a lot closer to the tracks than they were.
Since then, there have been way too many train and vehicle accidents, where people have rolled the dice and lost. These are preventable accidents and there is no excuse for breaking the law and trying to beat the train.
There are some basic laws of physics and one is that a train will beat a car or truck everyday. It is an unfair equation but it will not change because people lose patience.
Is sitting at a railroad crossing with the gates down for five minutes (and most of the time in Morgan Hill, it is a lot shorter) worth your life?
Patience beats stupidity every time. No exceptions.
In case you’ve missed the point, here it is in black and white: if the crossing gates are down it means you stop behind the gates and wait. Failure to do so is nothing less than a death sentence.
David Cohen, a member of the Times’ editorial board, is a corporate speechwriter and former journalist.
David Cohen, a member of this newspaper’s editorial board, is a corporate speechwriter and former journalist.
