Saturday, Sept. 8 we are sponsoring a “Rally at the Rails” for rail safety awareness in the State of Illinois. This rally will be at the village park in McLean, located one block north of U.S. 136 from 2 to 4 p.m.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration statistics, Illinois has been one of the top three states in the nation with most fatalities at railroad grade crossings over the last four years. Illinois led the nation in 1999 and was number two in the year 2000. (http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/Prelim/2000/r12.html.) With the introduction of high speed trains in Illinois, we are concerned the death rate will also continue to increase.

We will be presenting the forms needed and the process to follow for citizens to report unsafe crossings to the Illinois Commerce Commission. Bad roadway user driving is but one cause of grade crossing collisions. Other causes are as varied as no active warning devices, limited line of sight at crossings, poor design configuration of a crossing,k malfunctioning warning devices at crossings, lack of 20 second minimum active warning device activation, ect. Two rail safety bills currently being cosidered in the U.S. Congress and Senate will also be discussed.

This rally is in memory of Stuart A. Curtis and C. Dannen Latherow who were killed Sept. 26, 1999 in McLean, as well as the 11 victims of the Bourbonnais train crash, Jennifer Locke from Decatur, Eric Ivie from Granite City and other victims throughout Illinois. Last year alone, 425 indivduals were killed at grade crossings in the United States.

Please feel welcome to attend this rally to support increased rail safety, to remember someone killed in a grade crossing collision, to gain information about reporting unsafe railroad grade crossings, and/or to learn about current legislation.

For further information contact:

Ron and Dorothy Curtis

parents of victim, (309) 456-3881