(Chicot County, Arkansas – July 15, 2016)
Thanks to poor governmental agency quality control, details were seriously sketchy and lacking in content in regard to a
A horrible quadruple fatality occurred late Friday afternoon at about 6:10 P.M., as a mother, her 15-year-old son and two family friends, yet to be identified by name, but boys 13 and 11, were killed in a collision with a Union Pacific freight train. The collision occurred at the Chicot County, AR Union Pacific Railroad crossing of Old Masonville Road just north of Dermott, AR and southwest of McGehee, AR. The motorist was driving a1997 Ford Econoline van westbound into a setting sun at the crossing when she was struck by the train. According to Federal Railroad Administration’s rail crossing records, the crossing does not even appear to be on the inventory list.
Beverly Cater, 39, was driving with the three boys in the van when she was struck by a southwest bound UPRR freight train, one of a daily average of over a dozen trains that cross Old Masonville Road at that point at a maximum allowable speed of 60 mph. It is virtually certain that if this crossing was equipped with lights and gates, this collision would not have happened. Both Union Pacific and Operation Lifesaver know that lights and gates are the most effective type of protection at railroad crossings. Studies that have been conducted over fifty years ago confirm that lights and gates offer the ability to drastically reduce the number of vehicle/train accidents by as much as 96%.
Two of the occupants were killed at the scene, while the third died after being taken to an area hospital. The fourth victim succumbed to his injuries Saturday morning after being airlifted to a Jackson, MS hospital. All four victims were residents of Dermott, AR.
