Sheriff’s Department’s Response to Blocked Railroad Crossings ELKHART- After receiving several complaints of blocked railroad crossings that caused delays for motorists in the Dunlap area, the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department began communicating with officials from the Norfolk Southern Railroad Company last week. After discussions to have trains removed from the crossings in accordance with Indiana statutes went unheeded by the Norfolk Southern, Sheriff’s Deputies began enforcement efforts yesterday that resulted in eighteen citations being issued to the railroad company. Beginning at 1:32pm yesterday, the Sheriff’s Department received a complaint from a citizen that the railroad crossing at US 33 and Sunnyside was blocked. At approximately 1:37pm, Norfolk Southern reported that the train was stopped as the “train crew ran out of time”. It was reported that it would take at least 2-3 hours for a new crew to arrive and clear the crossing. At 2:00pm, Sheriff’s Deputies were on-scene and began taking enforcement actions against the railroad company. This resulted in eighteen citations for blocking the crossing, which was calculated per statute for every ten minutes that the train blocked the crossing. At approximately 5:05pm, a new crew arrived and cleared the crossing. According to Indiana statute 8-6-7.5-1, “It shall be unlawful for a railroad corporation to permit any train, railroad car or engine to obstruct public travel at a railroad-highway grade crossing for a period in excess of (10) minutes, except where such train, railroad car or engine cannot be moved by reason of circumstances over which the railroad corporation has no control.” According to Indiana statute 8-6-7.5-3, “A railroad corporation, conductor, or engineer who violates this chapter commits a Class C infraction. However, no conductor or engineer acting under the rules or orders of the railroad corporation or its supervisory personnel may be prosecuted for such a violation.” As the decision to stop the train was taken under the rules and orders of the railroad corporation, the citations will be delivered to Norfolk Southern Railroad’s local office in Elkhart. The penalty for violating this statute is a Class C infraction, which finable up to $500.00 for each violation. It should be noted that prior to enforcement actions being taken, the Sheriff’s Department has been in communication with Norfolk Southern Railroad’s Office of Government Affairs to make them aware of the community’s concerns and that enforcement action would be taken if the trains continued to block railroad crossings. Elkhart County Sheriff’s Deputies will continue to monitor this situation and will take additional enforcement actions as needed.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:52:09 +0000
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