To the Editor:

Is someone going to have to get killed at a railroad crossing before the city begins enforcing its law that trains cannot block crossings for more than 10 minutes?

A tragedy was barely averted after dark on New Year’s Eve when a young man ran into a train, which the railroad had left unattended and blocking the crossing at Oak Street.

The railroad had put not put out flashing lights or any other signals to indicate that they had parked a train across the Oak Street crossing after dark.

The area is poorly and dimly lit and it would be almost impossible to see a black train car after dark parked across the crossing if you were coming around the corner from the bar b que place.

At least two other people narrowly avoided running into the train before one person did.

Although the person’s vehicle was a total wreck, thankfully the person was not injured.

Generally, railroads are responsible, corporate citizens, but in recent weeks in Selma, they have been a great inconvenience to our citizens, have violated our law by blocking crossings more than 10 minutes at a time, and on

New Year’s Eve at Oak Street were clearly negligent.

The city needs to begin enforcing its own laws.

Sincerely,

Cecil Williamson

Councilman Ward 1