Sheriff calls for end to ‘death-defying’ behavior at train crossings

MADISON COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — A Central Indiana sheriff voiced new concerns about safety issues related to increased train traffic and stopped trains following a deadly accident in Ingalls. 

Amber Louise Kates, 30, was killed June 13 after attempting to drive around a railroad crossing gate on North Alfonte Street, north of State Road 67. 

“The gates were clearly down,” said Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger. “She had plenty of time to just stop and wait but she decided to go around the gate. She drove too far around the gate – further than she would have had to – and the wheels of the car actually got pinned in between the tracks.” 

Kates got out of her car and was hit seconds later by the approaching train, witnesses told investigators. 

“She didn’t intend for that to happen,” Mellinger told News 8. “This was a tragic accident caused by bad decisions.” 

Countless factors outside of a driver’s control – including weather, timing and luck – could affect a vehicle’s likelihood of getting stuck on the tracks any distance from the crossing gate, he added.

Authorities have witnessed an increasing number of drivers attempting dangerous and illegal maneuvers at railroad crossings across Madison County during the past year. The sheriff said it “isn’t uncommon” to see three or more consecutive vehicles driving around a crossing gate to avoid waiting for an oncoming train. 

Highly trafficked and problematic areas cited by officials and residents include the crossing at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Anderson, south of 29th Street. 

Lengthy, unpredictable train stops could also have a devastating impact on emergency response times in the county’s rural areas, Mellinger revealed. 

“We’re lucky to have five deputies on the street at any given time,” he said. “We often have 10 [to] 15 miles to drive to get to an incident. If one or two of those deputies are tied up on a call elsewhere and you have a deputy get stopped by a train, you might be doubling the response time out there.”

Trains typically stop “multiple times a day,” according to Anderson residents, blocking crossings for 20 minutes to several hours. 

Local drivers admitted to speeding under crossing arms after they begin coming down, driving around crossing gates, backing up or turning around on one-way streets, driving off the roadway and changing their usual routes or travel times in order to avoid the possibility of being held up by a lazy locomotive.

Current Indiana law prohibits trains from stopping at railroad crossings for more than 10 minutes in most circumstances, and grants local authorities the power to issue citations if they witness violations.

However, both the validity and effectiveness of the statute have been called into question. A dispute over who gets to regulate railroad crossings and the duration of train stops reached the Indiana Supreme Court last month on appeal, while tickets issued to rail companies by local police departments and sheriff’s offices have gone unpaid.

Mellinger – and other Indiana officials – described the three-figure fines associated with blocked crossing citations as an ineffective “slap on the hand” for multi-billion dollar rail corporations. He urged lawmakers to consider enforcing safe driving practices at railroad crossings instead, explaining the approach had previously been effective in other jurisdictions. Citations for ignoring crossing warnings or driving around crossing gates appeared to be a powerful deterrent for drivers. 

“They seem to think it’s really bad to get a ticket… but they’ll risk their lives without hesitation,” Mellinger noted. 

He said hiring or reassigning officers to patrol railroad crossings would require additional state or federal funding. The enforcement strategy would also target increasingly fearless pedestrians. 

“We have a lot of people who enjoy walking along railroad tracks,” explained Mellinger. “They don’t understand they can easily get swept away by a train car if they’re within three feet of the tracks. It’s like a game or a dare for them. I guess they’re trying to defy death.”