MARCH 17, 2015
TILTON, ILLINOIS
An autopsy will be conducted Wednesday on a traspassing 15-year-old boy
who was killed when he was hit by a train late Tuesday afternoon in Tilton.
Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson said that Shawn C.
Morris of Tilton was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:25 p.m.
Johnson said the boy was on the Norfolk and Southern railway
tracks on the north side of the 14th Street overpass in Tilton when
he was hit and killed by a train sometime between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Tilton Police Chief Steve Cornett said three boys were on
the north side of the tracks walking south and they wanted to cross the
tracks. Two of them held back and tried
to talk the victim out of crossing, he said.
Cornett said that Mr. Morris’ foot got caught on the rail,
and, when he got back up, he was hit by the train.
The incident is being investigated by Johnson’s office and
the Tilton Police Department.
This appears to be a tragic accident, but it should have never happened if these kids were tought not to trespass on railroad property. While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance
with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and
photography, they are private property. And they can be a deadly place.
In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents,
according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
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NTSB TO HOLD FORUM ON THE DANGERS OF RAILROAD TRESPASSING
MARCH 11, 2015
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WASHINGTON, DC
The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a
public forum March 24-25 on the dangers of trespassing on the railroad
right-of-way.
While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance
with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and
photography, they are private property. And they can be a deadly place.
In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents,
according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The forum, Trains and Trespassing: Ending Tragic
Encounters, will be chaired by NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt. It will
feature speakers who have been seriously injured by trains; those whose
communities have been affected; and railroad employee assistance program
employees whose train crews have struck people on railroad property. The
forum will draw on the expertise of railroads, regulators, and researchers,
among others, to review the diversity of trespassing accidents and incidents
and look at current and future prevention strategies.
The forum will be held at the NTSB's Board Room and
Conference Center, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C.
However, on March 25, the forum will include a tour of Norfolk Southern’s
safety train at Union Station.
More information about the forum can be found here:
http://www.ntsb.gov/trespassing
The public can view the forum in person or by live webcast
on the NTSB's website. As soon as they are available, an agenda and webcast
details will be posted.
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