The Palm Beach Post: Letters: All Aboard a tragedy on tracks waiting to happen

All Aboard a tragedy waiting to happen

I read Thursday’s “SUV driver under scrutiny in crash” about the New York driver who was killed and who caused an accident while stopped on the tracks in a railroad crossing. I have always feared this situation while crossing the tracks in Jupiter. Needless to say, I have also been very careful not to stop on the tracks.

Recently, I left my volunteer job at Jupiter Medical Center and stopped at a red light just past the railroad track and gates at the intersection of Toney Penna Road and Alternate A1A. There were two cars behind me. One was safely beyond the gates; the second was on the tracks.

At that point, I heard the train’s whistle and saw the gates beginning to descend. I couldn’t pull forward because of traffic on Alternate A1A. Luckily, the light turned green just in time for the last car to clear the tracks and prevent what could have been a repeat of the Valhalla, N.Y., horror scene.

What will happen when All Aboard Florida becomes a reality and people at many crossings do the same stupid thing: stop on the tracks, at a red light, with a high-speed train bearing down on them?

AAF should be stopped from creating this self-serving project when citizens all along its heavily populated route will experience increased danger, traffic and noise — with no benefits to their communities.

BELINDA EICHLER, JUPITER