RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in
NCDOT Now, the department’s weekly newscast.
Staged Train Crash Simulation
This week, the NCDOT Rail Division’s BeRailSafe program, in partnership with N.C. Operation Lifesaver, conducted a staged train crash in Star, North Carolina.
In efforts to educate the public about safety at railroad crossings, the event incorporated a moving motor vehicle trying to beat a train to a crossing, which ultimately ended in a crash.
Train safety begins with every driver who should remember:
- It takes a train traveling at 55 miles per hour more than a mile to stop;
- It is illegal and deadly to drive around lowered crossing arms;
- Trains always have the right-of-way, even over emergency vehicles; and
- Never stop a car on the railroad tracks. If a vehicle stalls while crossing the tracks, get out immediately and call 911 or the emergency notification number found on a blue sign on the railroad signal equipment.
Additional safety tips and ways to schedule a BeRailSafe presentation for community groups or classrooms are available at
BeRailSafe.org.
Julius Chambers Highway Dedication
One of North Carolina’s late Civil Rights leaders was recently remembered in Charlotte. Born in 1936, Julius Chambers founded the first integrated law firm in the state, advocating for Civil Rights both locally and across the nation.
To honor his role in the advancement of Civil Rights and the practice of law in North Carolina, Julius Chambers Highway was officially dedicated on Interstate 85 in Charlotte from Interstate 77 to the I-85 connector. Governor Cooper, former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, plus other state and local officials provided remarks at the ceremony.
“Today I’m proud to honor the thousands of accomplishments of a man who set such a powerful example for all of us,” said Governor Cooper. “I am grateful that we are here today dedicating a portion of I-85 in memory and in honor of Julius Chambers.”