CHICAGO - Illinois State Police will be out this week issuing tickets and handing out safety literature in a bid to bring down numbers of railroad-crossing deaths in the state.
A greater emphasis on the problem in Illinois comes during U.S. Rail Safety Week this week.
The Champaign News-Gazette reports that state police will work with local and federal agencies throughout the week. That will entail ticketing drivers who illegally stop on railroad tracks or pedestrians who ignore warning bells to cross tracks.
The newspaper reports that there were over 100 railroad-crossing collisions in Illinois involving vehicles last year, leaving 25 people dead and causing 29 injuries.
