Hallett Residents Concerned With Rail Safety After Fatal Train Wreck

A deadly crash is raising concerns over the safety of train crossings in rural Green Country.

Paul Watson was driving with his wife and young daughter Saturday when his pickup was hit by a train north of Hallett . His family survived, but he didn't make it.

8/30/2014 Related Story: One Dead After Train Hits Car In Pawnee County

Those who live near the tracks tell News On 6, they believe the accident could have been prevented with flashing lights.

"It's rural, but there's enough people that come through here," said Hallett resident, Emily Higgins.

The railroad tracks sit between a hay meadow and an old dirt road. Higgins said a train blows through that part of Pawnee County's countryside every couple of hours.

The crossing is rural. It has a blind spot or two, but no flashing lights or arm guards, just a few signs before the tracks, along with the train's whistle to warn drivers of the possible danger - though, Higgins said she doesn't always hear the whistle blow.

"I would hate to see it if one of the trains did not signal properly first thing in the morning with a school bus coming through," said Hallett resident Emily Higgins.

Higgins lives only a few hundred feet from the tracks, she has to cross them in two different places to get into town. It's the most dreaded part of her drive.

"It scares the daylights out of me every time, and now even worse," said Higgins.

It's worse now because one of her worst fears has become reality.

Broken glass marks the spot where her neighbor, Paul Watson was killed. He was driving with his wife and daughter when their pickup was hit by a train.

"He played in a band and he was actually heading to a gig and his family was going with him to go watch him play," Higgins said.

An accident report said Watson was not wearing his seat belt. It said he was partially thrown from the truck, then, pinned for hours.

"If he had been wearing his seatbelt, I believe he would have survived the wreck, but you can't just blame it on that," Higgins said.

She was just up the town road, at home when the crash happened. Higgins said she heard Watson's truck drive past, but only heard the train's whistle blow once.

"To never have heard the train, it's scary. It really, truly is. If there would have been a better warning system, it would have saved his life," Higgins said.

BNSF said there's a board that sends a signal to every locomotive when it gets within about a quarter mile of any railroad crossing. By federal law, a train must to blow its whistle about a quarter mile before any railroad crossing. The engineer is required to send at least four warning signals, one of them all the way through the crossing.

The train we saw followed the rules, but Higgins said that doesn't always happen.

It's something so frustrating to her. She said she's called BNSF three times to complain, but feels her concerns were ignored at the cost of her neighbor's life.

"Kind of makes you feel like they don't care, that they're this big railroad company, but yet we don't have to worry about the crossing," she said.

It's not the way Higgins wanted to bring attention to the problem, but said she hopes that somehow the community's tragic loss will bring new safety to the tracks.

"If they would just at least signal the way they're supposed to, that could help save lives," said Higgins. "But if there were flashing lights, solar powered, there's no telling how many more lives could be saved."

BNSF said it will be investigating the crash and said a camera likely captured the accident. They said it's up to each city or county to decide what kind of safety measures are needed at crossings, and once decided, the railroad said it's responsible for installing and paying for whatever is needed.

8/26/2014 Related Story: State To Spend $100M In Effort To Improve Railroad Crossings

Last week the governor pledged $100 million to make safety improvements to 300 crossings, though the state is still working its list of crossing.