Maryland Semi Truck Driver Hit by CSX Train at Notorious Crossing
(Rosedale, Maryland – February 23, 2015)
A CSX freight train crushed the trailer of a semi as its driver attempted to cross the double-track main line at the dangerous and unguarded crossing of Schaefers Lane in the Baltimore suburb of Rosedale last Monday morning at about 8:35 A.M.
Although the truck driver escaped injury or death and the train – one of two dozen that Federal Railroad Administration records state cross there daily at a top allowable speed of 50 mph – the crossing was on the same rail corridor where, at the equally dangerous and unguarded intersection of CSX rails and 68th Street in Rosedale, MD, a CSX train carrying hazardous chemicals smacked a trash truck in May, 2013, derailed, and resulted in fireballs that could be seen and explosions that were felt for miles.
Monday’s crash marked the 10th to occur at the crossing where FRA documents say it is not equipped with any type of active warning device, such as lights and gates. The most recent accident at that particular crossing was suffered in August of 2012, and an October 20, 2007 crash resulted in death for the driver of a Hummer. Two other collisions resulted in serious injury to the drivers.
It is virtually certain that if equipped with lights and gates these accidents would not have happened. Both CSX 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%.
