Listeners Club

Forgot Password

Not a Member? Sign up here!

banner

Local Headlines

U.S. Senate honors cop who prevented Metro North tragedy on Danbury branch

The young Norwalk police officer who prevented a tragedy involving a Danbury branch Metro North train and a car caught between the crossing gates last week, has been presented with a citation from the U.S. Senate.  Officer Neil Robertson was recognized by Senator Richard Blumenthal on Sunday for rushing to cars stopped in traffic to have them move forward so the SUV could get off the tracks. 

 

Blumenthal says there are over 2,000 accidents at grade crossings each year, with over 200 people killed annually nationwide.

 

Following the fatal Metro-North collision at the Valhalla grade crossing last month, Blumenthal introduced the Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Act of 2015.  The legislation focuses on engineering, education and enforcement.  He says those are the factors that experts have identified as the most effective means of reducing such collisions.

 

Blumenthal says the bill provides new resources to the Federal Railroad Administration, states and communities to make critical engineering and safety upgrades at rail crossings, like installing new lights and signals, particularly at accident-prone crossings. It would also provide grant funding to strengthen education and public awareness of grade crossing dangers, and for law enforcement to reduce violations of traffic laws at crossings.

On Air Now

Brian Kilmeade

Local Headlines