(Fenton, Louisiana –October 11, 2019)
In what could prove as several similar collisions pointing to a pair of facts, another concrete delivery truck was involved in a collision with a train at a dangerous and unguarded railroad grade crossing. The cement truck driver was sent to a local hospital with undisclosed, but serious, injuries Wednesday about 1 PM, CDT in Fenton, LA.
The Union Pacific freight train involved in the collision is one of a daily average of 11 Union Pacific trains that cross at 4th Street at maximum allowable speeds at 49 MPH. Yet, there were no active warning devices, such as lights and gates, at this unguarded crossing. It is virtually certain that if this crossing was equipped with lights and gates, this collision and the two other cement truck collisions would not have happened. Union Pacific and Operation Lifesaver all 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%.
The wrecked cement truck was owned by Port Aggregates, Inc. The driver was not identified by authorities from the Fenton Police Department.
The earlier two collision involving cement delivery trucks took place September 25 in Nashville, TN and this October 5 in Kansas City, KS. While the collisions in Tennessee and Louisiana resulted in serious injuries for the drivers, the one in Kansas was a fatality. The injury collision in Louisiana demolished the truck and was the second accident to occur at the former Southern Pacific crossing. All three collisions occurred at crossings without lights and gates.