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This is Gary Fitzpatrick. He’s the state coordinator for Operation Lifesaver, a national rail safety organization. He came to Lakeland Wednesday to take part in a stakeout of Lakeland rail crossings by police officers and volunteers. The group passed out safety literature, urging people not to drive around crossing rails after they’ve been activated. Police officers wrote tickets for drivers who didn’t properly stop at rail crossings.
Fitzpatrick and Lakeland police were concerned about a recent spate of fatal west Lakeland collisions between cars and Amtrak trains.
“Hopefully, we’ll help make this community a little safer,” Fitzpatrick said.
The officers and volunteers worked at three crossings during morning and afternoon shifts. They were located at: Wabash Avenue & Olive Street, South Florida Avenue & Pine Street, and North Massachusetts Avenue & Pine Street.
The Wabash crossing was the scene of last month’s quadruple-fatal crash, when a car that drove around a crossing guard was struck by an oncoming Amtrak train. It happened about a month after a similar crash killed a Lakeland teenager at a crossing nearby.
Police officers said they wrote at least 15 tickets for various violations of safety rules at crossings, including stopping too close too the tracks or even on top of them.
Here’s News Channel 8’s coverage of the event.
Thanks Billy for covering this event. Hopefully the efforts of our volunteers and the officers who spent most of the day in the hot August sun will save a life someday.
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Posted by Chris Cook, Lakeland on 08/30 at 11:28 AM
I know there have been some tragic accidents on the railroads, but I think police resources could be better spent on other crimes like drug sales that are so bad in Lakeland.