2008 Woodie Awards
Railroad owners caution students
Trespass accidents avoidable
TAMARA BEST
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: News
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"We're just trying to avoid conflict with the property owners," University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said Monday. "A lot of times police are just the facilitators, and if we give students information, they can make the best decision."
Railroad officials told University police that students, staff and faculty were parking and walking on the private property.
The Athens line of the Great Walton Railroad runs from Jackson County to Athens and passes behind Sanford Stadium on East Campus Road. The N08 parking lot is near the railroad, and a wire fence separates the parking lot and tracks.
Students who live in Rivermill Apartment Homes apartment complex cross the tracks as a shortcut to campus.
Crossing over the tracks causes safety concerns, Warren Flatau, spokesperson for the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a phone interview Tuesday.
"Deaths resulting from illegal trespassing are the leading cause of railroad fatalities," Flatau said. "About 500 people die a year, and others sustain lifelong injuries."
The Federal Railroad Administration's lists the trespass fatalities by state. In 2007, Georgia ranked No. 10 on the list with 14 deaths.
Flatau said the majority of the deaths can be avoided.
"Trains are deceptively fast and travel at relatively high speeds and operate a lot quieter than television leads people to believe," he said.
Flatau encouraged those who cross over railroads to be aware, cross at designated areas and never climb around standing railroad equipment.
Dave Bishop, general manager for the Great Walton Railroad, said Tuesday passers-by should use the overhead passes for their own safety.
"I had no idea that a railroad was private property," Laura Gregg, a graduate student from Lawrenceville, said. "I have crossed over in the past, and so have people I know."
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 19
Joseph fisher
posted 4/02/08 @ 8:39 AM EST
I never wanted to climb all over the trains on campus until the listserv e-mail and the R&B news articles! Now every time I see a parked train that's all I can think. (Continued…)
William
posted 4/02/08 @ 9:55 AM EST
The article doesn't say where people are allowed to cross now. UGA encourages students to cross the tracks at the river mill apartments becuase they have installed gaps in the fence!
This whole issue is retarded, the police have better things to do than making sure students dont walk across tracks that are seldom used by trains anyway. (Continued…)
brad clontz
posted 4/02/08 @ 9:59 AM EST
If students aren't supposed to cross the tracks at River Mill, then why is there a clearly delineated pathway over the tracks between the N08 lot and the River Mill lot?
Whoever installed the fence separating the N08 lot from the tracks left a person-sized, prefabricated gap in the fencing. (Continued…)
RP
posted 4/02/08 @ 10:27 AM EST
The River Mill fence gap is there for a reason. If they did not want people to cross the tracks there they should have put up a barbed wire fence.
As for walking on the tracks, I remember when I was in undergrad at UGA that the only way for me to make it from some of my South Campus classes or parking to my North Campus classes in the 15 minutes between class was to run up the railroad tracks because it was the only flat ground all the way between both without any car crossings. (Continued…)
Nick
posted 4/02/08 @ 11:13 AM EST
If a college student can't avoid being run over while walking 5 linear feet across train tracks, then they deserve to be run over. Keep the gap in the fence. (Continued…)
Julie
posted 4/02/08 @ 11:43 AM EST
Why would they call that bus stop right at N08 "river mill" if they didn't expect people to cross the railroad tracks to River Mill? Are we supposed to walk out of parking lot and all the way around it now?
Fed Up Graduate Student
posted 4/02/08 @ 12:12 PM EST
If you don't like it, go to another school.
If they say "Keep off, Private Property," then KEEP OFF.
What, do you think that you have some say about what happens on PRIVATE PROPERTY? Grow up, undegrads. (Continued…)
N02 Parker
posted 4/02/08 @ 12:50 PM EST
As someone who parks in N02(a university lot), crossing the tracks on a daily basis is a requirement. I have never tampered with the track and never intend to, but the fact is that I and everyone else HAS to cross the track to get to class. (Continued…)
N02 Parker2
posted 4/02/08 @ 4:35 PM EST
I also park in N02. I can't really argue about the private property issue. It sucks though. It would have been nice though, in the email, if it were made clear exactly how I am supposed to add more distance to my already long walk but still avoid the clear pathway across the tracks from N02. (Continued…)
Wesley Bernard
posted 4/03/08 @ 5:15 AM EST
The University is most certainly complicit in people's crossing the train tracks with the gaps in the fence. I would also like to point out that the property the train company owns was likely bought through imminent domain to benefit the public. (Continued…)
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