According to Indiana statute 8-6-7.5-1, “It shall be unlawful for a railroad corporation to permit any train, railroad car or engine to obstruct public travel at a railroad-highway grade crossing for a period in excess of (10) minutes, except where such train, railroad car or engine cannot be moved by reason of circumstances over which the railroad corporation has no control.”
According to Indiana statute 8-6-7.5-3, “A railroad corporation, conductor, or engineer who violates this chapter commits a Class C infraction. However, no conductor or engineer acting under the rules or orders of the railroad corporation or its supervisory personnel may be prosecuted for such a violation.
As the decision to stop the train was taken under the rules and orders of the railroad corporation, the citations will be delivered to Norfolk Southern Railroad’s local office in Elkhart. The penalty for violating this statute is a Class C infraction, which finable up to $500.00 for each violation.
Regardless of any other information, and based solely on the information provided in the story, these are some facts, and this is how this will play out:
1. First paragraph, in
BOLD: The crew allegedly ran out of Federally mandated Hours Of Service. The "Railroad Corporation", nor the Crew had control over this circumstance. Based on the Town Ordinance, the tickets were given unlawfully. These tickets will be dismissed in Court.
2. Second paragraph, in
BOLD: Even IF the tickets were given legally, the crew would not be responsible, because the crew only does what it is told to do my management. By Town Ordinance, the tickets would be given to the Corporation, conveyed via the crew, to their supervisors.
3. Third paragraph, in
BOLD: The "Corporation" did not mandate the crew stop the train, the Federal Government did, by implementing HOS Rules that make it a larger violation of Law to continue to operate the Train in an unsafe manor, ie: Crew operating for too many hours, and being mentally un-alert. Again, third paragraph is more evidence for NS Corp., who will have the charges dismissed in Court.
Now, not unrelated, but as an aside; The Town/Township is well within their Rights to enact, and enforce, local ordinances that can affect Train operations. There are MANY cases to support the Town's Rights, "Quiet Zones" for example, and the many hundreds of cases of ticketing a Train for blocking a crossing that DID hold up in court. Railroad Corporations are aware they must abide by these Local Ordinances, and they DO make every effort to do so, not just for the cost of 18 $500.00 fines, but more-so for "Public Relations", and to avoid MORE "Local Ordinances" in the future. Even one $500.00 ticket actually cost the Railroad THOUSANDS of dollars in lost time, Legal fees, Lawyers wages, etc.
EDIT: Replace "Local Ordinance" with "Indiana statute"...regardless, same situation, same results.
All that said, in THIS PARTICULAR CASE: The Police should have used better judgment, because "legally", they had no right to ticket anyone, and the case will be dismissed, at Taxpayer expense. Under their own Indiana statute, neither the Train, the Train Crew, nor the Railroad Corporation violated the Indiana statute that was cited.
--It would be equal to ticketing the train for stopping more than ten minutes to put out a fire on a flammable tank car.
Bluewater, whatever the legislation is, it still does not make blocking this crossing acceptable. In fact the railroad companies action and their statements in mitigation of the siuation they created are indefensible. They certainly should be brought to account in the courts with the heaviest of penalties placed against them. If this cannot be carried out then there is something very wrong with the law in these circumstances.
Bill
Hello again, Bill,
--The problem in this case is that TWO LAWS are in conflict with one another. The Higher FEDERAL LAW, with it's stiffer penalty, is the one that took precedence.
Highlighted BOLD: I have to take issue with the vehemence with which you attack the "Railroad Corporation" in this case, since all they were doing was FOLLOWING the LAW. Damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, my friend, but not one the NS Corp should be "prosecuted to the fullest extent" over. They followed the Law with the highest Penalty, and any Law that requires breaking another Law is un-enforceable, period.
This is simply a case of a rural community LEO trying to appease the people of the community, and failing badly.
--Not an excuse, but a
reality check: Even IF there were a serious emergency, and "First Responders" could not "respond" due to the trains blocking of the roadway, the ensuing Lawsuit against the Railroad (which would be thrown out also, due to them following Federal HOS Rules, and not being "negligent"),
if in the odd chance it were tried and convicted,
would still be less expensive than building an over/under pass for vehicle traffic to cross an occupied rail line.