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Public Safety puts in extra watch along train tracks
Four officers patrol tracks in hope of preventing accidents
By Gretchen Knaup
In response to the increase in train-related deaths last year, Caltrain has launched a "zero-tolerance" four-day safety blitz that started the week of July 9. Local law enforcement partnered with Amtrak police to ensure safety along the tracks in the city of Sunnyvale, as well as Mountain View and San Jose.
The marshalling in Sunnyvale included three Sunnyvale public safety officers on motorcycles and one officer on a bicycle. The Amtrak police department, Caltrain's contracted police agency, provided a helicopter and also a newly formed bike patrol unit. Amtrak Police Chief Ron Frazier said the bike capability would remain a permanent enforcement resource along the Caltrain line.
"The helicopter can be brought in support of future enforcement efforts," he said.
According to Frazier, all together as many as 30 officers from various agencies will be participating in the safety blitz, issuing citations in place of the usual warning. They will be looking for trespassers who are violating any laws, including drinking along the tracks. Trespassing on a Caltrain right-of-way is a misdemeanor and entails a $271 fine. According to the Amtrak police department, the fine can exceed $1,000 depending on the severity of the citation.
Officers patrolled the streets along the tracks from noon to 8 p.m., as well as the streets the tracks cross over. Lieutenant Doug Moretto, who's in charge of the safety unit for the Sunnyvale Police Department, was one of the officers out on patrol on July 11.
"We look for people driving around the crossing gates," he said. "Because of traffic congestion people will stop on the tracks, which they can not do."
According to Moretto, the two streets that cross the Caltrain's tracks in Sunnyvale are Evelyn and Sunnyvale Avenues. Overpasses in Sunnyvale include Matildha Avenue, Lawrence Expressway, Fair Oaks Avenue and Wolfe Road.
Moretto explained the pedestrian rules--"When the train is at the station, pedestrians can't go in front or behind the tracks in conjunction with the crossings."
Moretto thinks the greatest cause of accidents on the tracks is people not paying attention. "Its always either the pedestrian's or the driver's fault," he said. "It never the train's fault."
Moretto added the blitz is a safety educational tool. Frazier agreed by saying, "We'll be able to hopefully educate the parents as well as the kids."
Two train-related deaths occurred in Sunnyvale in the year 2000. One incident involved a youth and the other an elderly male. In total 17 people died on Caltrain's tracks last year, which stretch 77 miles from San Francisco to South Gilroy. Last year was the worst for fatalities since 1995, when 20 people died.
"We are undertaking this intensive enforcement effort because we are committed to reducing the number of fatalities along the Caltrain corridor," said Mike Nevin, board vice chairman of Caltrain. According to spokesperson for Caltrain Rita Haskin, the company has tried to analyze all aspects of the deaths, whether they were accidents or suicides, but no patterns emerged.
The Sunnyvale Public Safety Department also has a personal connection to the Caltrain fatalities. According to Moretto, a Sunnyvale officer lost his life when a car hit his vehicle in 1986 that was illegally going around the crossing arms.
"We are a family, just like any other, and so we suffered through that," Moretto said.
"Our goal is that someday, the idea of crossing the tracks will be as taboo in our communities as a casual stroll across the Bayshore Freeway," Frazier said.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
