On the night of Saturday, Feb. 11, my children lost yet another friend and classmate to accident involving a train in our town. While we all know that no one should cross before gates are up, children, as well as adults, many time commuters, rush to follow behind the end of the train they can see without realizing there is an oncoming train approaching. Our lives are filled with rules to be followed as well as much well thought out technology. As a mother and a resident of Villa Park, where there is no possible way of traveling from the north to the south end of our town without encountering the train tracks, I wonder, would it be that difficult to put additional safety measures in place to prevent these recurring, horrific accidnts. Can laws be instituted so that no train may ever pass another train;s end at a crossing? Can modern technology not deliver a way for a signal at the end of one train to universally communicate with the beginning of another? I know in Villa Park the train is an everyday presence in almost all residents’ lives. It appears our small town has to rpeatedly grieve another loss of yet another of our residents. Most often it is a child. This should not be happening in 2006.
Debbie Dolecki, Villa Park
Reprinted with permission from the Lombard Spectator