Louisiana Senator Proposes Law to Close Dangerous Rail Crossings
By Danielle Briones
Published
on July 22, 2005
Louisiana ranked fifth in highway-rail crossing fatalities last year with 23. There have been 15 such deaths this year.
The legislation, sponsored by Vitter and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would:
Require the Dept. of Transportation to work with states and municipalities to close 1 percent of all public and private grade crossings each year for 10 years, with priority being given to the most dangerous crossings.
Let the transportation secretary award 178$ million in federal grants in a five-year period to states for safety improvements on railway-highway crossings.
Provide $6.7 million in funding to Operation Lifesaver, a national education and awareness program dedicated to ending accidents at highway-rail grade crossings.
Require the Transportation Department to physically inspect at least 2 percent of all railway-road grade crossings in the 10 states with the highest rates of collisions. They would also have to conduct an investigation of each major railroad company involved in a fatal accident.
Launch a pilot program involving cameras at railraod crossings in the five states with the most train-car accidents.
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