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It's tempting to try to beat a mile-long train when you're running late, but it can cost you -- sometimes more than just a citation.
Bryan police officers teamed up with Union Pacific on Wednesday to target railroad crossing violations in downtown Bryan.
"We went a little less than two hours and got 13 people," said Special Agent Cliff Mayton with Union Pacific. "That's a little more than six an hour, and that's certainly about average for these."
Conductor Bubba Godejohn said he'd been in three accidents caused by people trying to beat the train in the 12 years he'd been with Union Pacific.
Robbie Pruitt, a locomotive engineer, said he'd had too many accidents and close calls in his 30-year career to count.
About six months ago, their train was approaching a crossing in Plantersville when the driver of a car wasn't paying attention, Godejohn said.
"He didn't even see us coming," he said.
The 420,000-pound train hit the small car at 45 mph, and Godejohn thought the worst.
"I just knew we killed him," he recalled.
Godejohn said the man was bleeding profusely from a 2- to 3-inch gash in his head from a railroad crossing sign that had come through the roof of his vehicle.
Miraculously, Godejohn said, the man, who had t retired the day before the accident, survived.
But the accident could have been avoided, officials said Wednesday.
Bryan officers said motorists need to slow down near train crossings and look both ways for trains.
Since April 1999, there have been 26 train-vehicle collisions in Brazos County, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Union Pacific has been conducting the officer-on-a-train operations since the 1970s as a way to increase awareness about the dangers of trying to outrun a train.
"The number of railroad collisions has gone down for a number of reasons, one of them being this program," said Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquelle Espinoza-Williams. "It's education, enforcement and engineering working together to lower the risk."
One person ticketed during the operation Wednesday was a Bryan Independent School District bus driver. The driver failed to come to a complete stop before crossing the tracks and was issued a misdemeanor ticket for $300.
Sandy Farris, a spokeswoman for the school district, said that officials would look into the circumstances surrounding the citation and that the bus driver could face disciplinary action and possible termination.
IN SHORT
Bryan police issued 18 citations Wednesday morning during an operation with Union Pacific targeting people who try to outrun trains at railroad crossings.
* Seven citations were issued for stopping on the tracks.
* Three people were cited for not having a driver's license.
* One person was cited for driving with a suspended license.
* One person was cited for disregarding red lights at the crossing.
* Two people were cited for disregarding crossing arms.
* Two people were cited for not having insurance.
* One person was cited for disregarding a stop sign.
* A school bus driver was cited for failure to stop at the railroad crossing.
