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Families Launch Campaign for Railroad Safety
By Bob Reha
Minnesota Public Radio
June 11, 2001

Two years ago, Ryan Nelson and Gerry Nybo of Detroit Lakes died when a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Train hit their car at a railroad crossing. Nelson and Nybo were just two of the 402 people killed in similar accidents in the U.S. in 1999. For the Nybo and Nelson families the accident has left many unanswered questions - questions they say the BNSF has shown little interest in answering. Now the dead mens' parents have organized Citizens Against Railroad Tragedies, a group working to force changes in the way such accidents are investigated.

This railroad crossing near Detroit Lakes is the site of a car-train accident which killed two men two years ago. Their families have launched a campaign to increase safety at such rail crossings.
(MPR Photo/Bob Reha)
 
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PLACE LIKE IT ALL OVER AMERICA. Just west of Detroit Lakes, the rail line between the Twin Cities and Fargo runs parallel with U.S. Highway 10. Wine Lake Rd. juts off the main road and heads into the fields. At the point where the road crosses the track, there are two of the familiar black and white railroad crossing signs, each further marked with a stop sign. There are no lights, bells or gates. It's just another rail crossing, except for one thing - two years ago at 7:51 p.m. on June 4, this was where Gerry Nybo and his best friend Ryan Nelson didn't see an oncoming Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train. It plowed into their car, and the two died instantly.

Railroads deny any liablity in such accidents. BNSF spokesman Steve Foresberg says it's impossible for a train, even moving as slowly as 25 mph, to stop in time when a vehicle pulls in front of a train. Foresberg says studies conducted by state and federal agencies indicate drivers are often at fault.

"Nearly half of all fatalities that occur in train-vehicle collisions occur at crossings that have active warning devices - gates and lights. And drivers are still making the intentional decision to try and beat the train," says Foresberg.

What actually happened at the crossing near Detroit Lakes is unclear, and that's a problem for the families.

"I'm convinced if there would have been a light at Wine Lake crossing, we'd have our boys here today, because they did not see that train," says Gerry Nybo Sr., father of one of the victims. Nybo, his wife Lillian and friend Becky Nelson are cleaning up after the first ever Railroad Crossing Safety Rally at the Detroit Lakes depot, which marked the anniversary of the accident. Lillian Nybo says the accident prompted the trio to organize Citizens Against Railroad Tragedies.

"This is not a battle out of anger. This is not a battle out of spite. It's a battle to change a badly flawed system," Lillian Nybo says.

The Nybos say the difficult task of dealing with the death of a son has been made all the worse by the lack of information provided by the railroad. Gerry Nybo says that was compounded by the discovery that local and state law enforcement officials had little part in the investigation.

Lillian Nybo (left) and Becky Nelson, the mothers of the two men who died in a car-train accident near Detroit Lakes. Nelson's husband Larry, who also actively campaigned for safer railroad crossings, died a few weeks ago.
(MPR Photo/Bob Reha)
 
"The state police weren't authorized to do toxicology tests of train crews, or to get the tape recorder - they call it a black box - that records the speed and when they applied the brakes and the whistle," he says. Nybo says when the families asked the railroad for more information about the accident, they were rebuked.

"At that time the only answer we got from the railroad was, 'Hey, get an attorney and sue us.' That was their attitude. We weren't asking any more then any other parent who had lost a child - Why? How did this happen? That's all we wanted," Gerry Nybo says.

Eventually, the Nybos hired a lawyer to negotiate with the railroad. Those negoiatations resulted in BNSF releasing more information. The experience prompted the Nybos to work for legislation to mandate that the National Transportation and Safety board investigate all fatal rail grade crossing accidents. Lillian Nybo says it would prevent possible tampering with crash evidence.

"The railroad investigators come on the scene. They confiscate the evidence and it's never to be seen again. The speed tapes, by federal law, can be destroyed 30 days after they're taken out of the trains. It bothers me because you don't even get an accident report in 30 days. By the time you get that accident report - and if there were some question about it - you would not have any evidence left," says Lillian Nybo.

There are more than 250,000 grade crossings nationwide. More than 8,200 of them are in Minnesota. In the past three years, 1,715 people across the country have died in vehicle train accidents. For years, safety advocates have called for warning lights or crossing gates to be installed at grade crossings. Industry officials say that is not economically feasible. BNSF spokesman Steve Foresberg says educational programs like Operation Lifesaver, a series of classes promoting crossing safety for drivers, are having an impact.

"The other thing we're pushing very hard for is to close as many unnecessary grade crossings as we possibly can. The rail industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation agree that there are still at least 25 percent too many crossings in the United States," he says.

Foresberg says BNSF officials have not reviewed a bill introduced by Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson and backed by Nybo's group. The legislation would give local authorities more responsibility, and allow them to conduct toxicology tests of train crews. Nybo says the legislation would reform current policies and make the details of a fatal crash investigation more accessible to the survivors and the public.

Railroad officials have apologized to the Nybos and Nelson for the loss of their children. Lillian Nybo recently attended a BNSF stockholders meeting in Texas. She addressed the board of directors on crossing safety.

"They have asked me to work with their safety committee to identify some areas that we feel are unsafe, so I'm pretty hopeful about that," she says.

Nybo says she's made it clear to BNSF officials that neither she nor the issue of grade crossing safety will go away. She says if the group's efforts prevent just one accident or save a life, it will all have been worthwhile.

More Information:
  • www.railcrossingsafety.org
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe
  • BNSF Today articleon rail/highway safety