The 1999 train accident in Bourbonnais, Illinois caused a serious rethinking of safety issues and procedures, and led to significant new safety legislation. The accident was a collision between a truck and a train. The impact force of a collision between a southbound Amtrack passenger train and a truck loaded with steel derailed the entire train, killing eleven passengers. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board indicated that the cause of the accident was that the driver of the truck tried to overtake the train at a level crossing. The NTSB praised Bourbonnais Illinois Hospital’s response. The NTSB also recommended increased enforcement of grade crossing signals and the installation of event recorders at all new grade crossings. They also detailed new procedures to provide emergency services with lists of all crew and passengers aboard the trains. A monument was erected by the City of Bourbonnais to commemorate the victims of the crash and is located at the intersection of Highways 102 and 45, across from the Olivet Nazarene University campus.
The accident occurred at 9:47 pm CST on March 15, 1999 in the city of Bourbonnais Illinois. Southbound Amtrack #59 train on the Illinois Central Railroad, City of New Orleans, collided with a truck loaded with steel blocking a grade crossing. At the moment of impact both the locomotives and eleven of the fourteen passenger cars derailed; and then the derailed cars collided with two of the ten freight cars on a siding. The NTSB report attributed the cause of the accident to the truck driver’s reaction to grade crossing signals. Perhaps thinking that he could beat the train crossing the tracks, the driver drove onto the tracks in front of the oncoming train. The driver, John Stokes, who survived, stated that the signal at the intersection was not activated until he was already on the road. He further said that he had not wanted to brake suddenly, which would propel his load of steel to ram the cab of his truck. The eleven passenger deaths and 122 injuries at Bourbonnais Hospital resulted in more than $14,000,000 in damages. Witnesses to the accident reported that the signal gates lowered only after the truck had started to cross the tracks. One of the witnesses stated that the signal door hit the trailer of the truck and could have broken as a result. John Stokes was sentenced in 2004 to two years in prison for failing to yield at a level crossing. The presiding judge stated that he believed the driver’s drowsiness affected his ability to make a safe driving decision.
As a result of the Bourbonnais accident, the NTSB issued a series of recommendations focused on rail safety issues, which included reviewing the effectiveness of existing signals at railroad grade crossings. The use of traffic dividing islands was also recommended to deter motorists from attempting to drive around the grade crossing gates. The US Department of Transportation was urged to provide increased incentives and grants to increase signal effectiveness at grade crossings. The US Federal Railroad Administration was asked to install event recorders to facilitate gate position monitoring at grade crossings. The railways themselves were ordered to initiate procedures to record accurate crew and passenger lists for emergency services and to improve Bourbonnais’ medical care. They were also ordered to implement better crew responsibility procedures on passenger trains. The railways were also ordered to install new event recorders at all new level crossings.
