Eugene Police participated in Operation Clear Track on Tuesday. This is a nation-wide effort to increase railroad safety.
The Eugene Police’s Street Crimes Unit spent about 3 hours at two railroad crossings downtown. They handed out railroad safety cards and conducted vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic stops.
According to federal statistics, a person or car is hit by a train every three hours in the United States. EPD Public Information Officer Melinda McLaughlin says the goal for the day was to educate rather than hand out citations.
“It’s just a way to get people to understand, know what the laws are and to increase people’s safety around railroad crossings.”
Operation Clear Track aligns with the City of Eugene’s Vision Zero which aims to eliminate deaths and life-changing injuries caused by traffic crashes.