Commuters rushing to make their trains are sometimes seen ignoring signs about dashing across the tracks, and Chip Pew with Operation Lifesaver says he’s witnessed more than his share of people taking that risk.
“I’ve seen people run across the crossing in the face of the train,” said Pew, who has worked for the Illinois Commerce Commission commuter-safety program since 2000. “One time, I think it was in Deerfield, years ago, a guy came up to me and said, ‘I want to file a complaint.’ He had grease on his suit.
“You know how he got it — he crawled under the train because he was running late and didn’t want to wait for the next one going downtown,” Pew added. “If that train had moved just a little bit when he was under there, it could have cut him in half.”
Dangerous moves like these and others have prompted Lake County municipalities to warn those people that doing so could cost them in several ways.
The Highland Park, Highwood and Lake Forest police departments have posted signs reminding pedestrians and motorists that violating warnings at crossings could result in a $250 fine.
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Highland Park police Sgt. Chris O’Neill said the goal is compliance with the law, so installing signs that make it clear that officers will ticket offenders can help educate people who might not be aware of the law.
“We thought (the sign) was a little more specific and detailed to reinforce it’s illegal,” O’Neill said.
Highland Park police installed signs last year at the downtown and Braeside train stations. Then Highland Park donated additional warning signs to Highwood to be installed at the downtown Highwood and Fort Sheridan stations, O’Neill said. Lake Forest put up its own warning signs earlier this year.
Lake Forest police Cmdr. Craig Lepkowski said the signs are part of the department’s efforts to keep people safe along the tracks.
“We’re just trying to address all the train accidents and injuries and deaths we’ve had over the last few years,” Lepkowski said.
So far this year, two pedestrians have been killed by Metra trains in Lake County, according to Metra spokesman Michael Gillis.
One incident involved a pedestrian on the right-of-way and the other involved a vehicle at a crossing.
Last year, there were six fatalities involving Metra trains in Lake County, some of which are thought to be suicides, Gillis noted.
“Essentially, our No. 1 priority is safety,” Gillis said. “That includes the safe operating of trains and includes motorists around tracks and stations.”
Since 2008, there have been nine train deaths in Lake Forest, officials said. The city’s West Train Depot, which has tracks used by Metra, Amtrak and Canadian Pacific, has been recognized as a particularly dangerous spot.
“One is too many, and we’ve had more than that so we’re doing what we can to advise people to stay off the train tracks and practice good train safety and conduct,” Lepkowski said.
Pew said he has studied around 500 fatalities from incidents involving trains and both pedestrians and vehicles in more than two decades working with the state and Metra. Operation Lifesaver stresses a three E’s approach — education, equipment and enforcement — to promote safety, and he said the educational component often involves direct conversations with people who have been observed running across the tracks to catch an arriving train.
“We’ll tell them, ‘Just for your information, you could get a ticket for up to $250 for doing that,’ (and) some of them will say, ‘I think I can judge if a train is too close or not,'” Pew said. “Then we might tell them, ‘Even though you know it’s dangerous and illegal to run across the Dan Ryan at rush hour, would you do it?'”
But Pew added that “there’s a certain number of people who, unfortunately, you have to enforce the penalties” to get the message across.
The Lake Forest and Highland Park police departments occasionally conduct education and enforcement blitzes, giving commuters information about safety and ticketing people who violate warnings.
Metra conducts similar education activities and enforcement exercises at stations throughout the Chicago area. Blitzes were held at downtown Highland Park and Braeside stations in June and one is scheduled to be held at Lake Forest’s West Train Depot in September.
”We want our passengers to be safe,” Gillis said. “We want them to get to their destination on time, but if you’re running late, don’t endanger your life. There’s another train coming.”
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