Police Take Train to Nab Unsafe Drivers in Cars

Aboard a slow-moving Metrolink train Thursday, Glendale Police Sgt. Jim Woody leaned against a window, cradled a portable radio close to his body and waited.

At intervals, he saw motorists crossing the tracks, then quickly notified a team of motorcycle officers waiting to issue citations at several of the city’s railroad crossings.

“You need to somehow get the message out to prohibit people from doing this,” Woody said. “The craziness of it is validated when you have three people in body bags”--a reference to the three members of a family who were struck and killed by a Metrolink train last month.

In a safety campaign that began more than two years ago, law enforcement officers throughout Los Angeles have boarded the trains to get a glimpse of what engineers see daily. Burbank and Glendale officers were getting their turn exactly one month after a young girl, her mother and grandfather were killed in Glendale while taking a popular shortcut.

Metrolink trains have struck and killed 26 people since operations began in 1992, nine of whom were determined to be suicidal, according to a Metrolink spokesman.

On Thursday, Woody and two Burbank officers aboard a train used the radios to notify other officers of any violations they could see along a short route between Buena Vista Street and Chevy Chase Drive.

Six motorists and one pedestrian were cited for ignoring the flashing red lights and crossing bars that warned of the approaching train.

One driver was grew angry after learning that the surveillance was part of an ongoing Metrolink safety campaign called Operation Officer on the Train. The train in this case had been specially reserved for television and newspaper reporters so they could witness the event.

“It’s like a trap,” said motorist Gordon Sanders, 60, who drove his white Lexus past warning lights. “The officer wasn’t even aware of the vehicle code section he was citing me for. He had to look it up in a book.

“When I went through the intersection, the red lights had just come on, but the crossbar had not moved,” he added. “I argued with the officer that the red lights are kind of like the yellow light at an intersection, a warning to stop. But he didn’t agree with me.”

Sanders said he plans to contest the $250 citation.

Also cited were a 45-year-old motorist who said he was late for a business meeting and a pedestrian returning to work from a hamburger stand who walked around a railroad crossing bar.

It is illegal for vehicles to cross train tracks after red warning lights start to flash at railroad intersections. Trespassing on any other portion of the tracks is also illegal, police said.

Thursday’s event had been arranged months before the Aug. 15 tragedy. The victims had taken a popular shortcut across the tracks to avoid walking along the overpass. Metrolink workers have since fenced off access to the shortcut.

“We’ve been hitting people because people aren’t respecting the trains,” said engineer Phil Nerkowski, who has been in control of trains that killed six people in separate incidents. “You get to a point where you put the train in emergency and there’s nothing you can do but sit there and watch.

“I’ve handled it pretty good, but it can be a toll on you.”