Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation are hitting the streets of Miami as part of national Rail Safety Week.
Alongside City of Miami police officers, FDOT staff handed out rail safety flyers to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians at busy intersections Tuesday in the Wynwood and Little River neighborhoods.
Miami Officer Paul McGlaughlin talked with drivers about safety tips.
Rail safety issues are the worst during rush hour, when traffic backs up in all directions, like when parents drop off their children at Centner Academy and Bridge Prep Academy near Wynwood, said McGlaughlin.
READ MORE: Brightline gets $25 million federal grant to improve safety measures after spate of deaths
“A lot of the problem we have here is people get past the stop bar – they get right up to the tracks. And then as the bar comes down as the train is approaching either they get hit or they become frustrated, they either try to move forward, move backwards, and that’s where a lot of the issues come in,” said McGlaughlin.
McGlaughlin said he’s responded to three train accidents on the Florida East Coast Railway, including one fatality.
“We get used to it being in the area,” he said.
A few drivers were asked to pull over near the intersection of North 20th Street and Miami Avenue so that officers could educate them about laws that were broken in the presence of FDOT and local law enforcement.
“We love the railroad system. It brings a lot of people into the city, and we want to encourage people to utilize it too. But at the same time drivers need to be aware of safety, and to obey and comply with all the signage and all the warnings,” said fellow Miami PD officer Orlando Del Valle.
The Florida East Coast Railway corridor in South Florida is the deadliest stretch of railroad in the nation, according to an ongoing investigation by WLRN and the Miami Herald.
Over 180 people have been hit and killed by Brightline trains along the corridor since the private train started running in 2017. Brightline maintains that all the incidents are due to the actions of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
