Utah Mother and Four Children Injured at Dangerous, Unguarded Union Pacific Crossing
(Mapleton, Utah – August 11, 2021)
A local mother driving her four children in their minivan were struck by a Union Pacific freight train at an unguarded crossing near Mapleton, Utah last Wednesday. The collision sent the mother and her children to the hospital with serious injuries. The collision occurred at about 1:00 pm at the Union Pacific Railroad crossing near the roadway intersection of 7100 South and 2400 East.
According to railroad-submitted records, a daily average of 11 trains travel over this crossing at speeds up to 60 mph. There has also been at least one prior collision at this crossing. There are no active warning devices, such as lights and gates, despite the collision history and relatively frequent and high-speed train operations over this crossing.
It is virtually certain that if Union Pacific would have installed lights and gates, this collision could have been prevented. 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 collisions by as much as 96%.
