Continue spreading the message from County Commissioner Steven Abrams.

Take note: Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams is term-limited and will not be on the ballot this coming November. A new commissioner will take his place in District 4 (to learn more about the upcoming November General Election click on this link).

But the fact that Abrams will not be on the upcoming ballot in no way takes away from his message to everyone in Palm Beach County. The message remains the same, “[I]t makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for anyone to ever consider trying to beat a train,” Abrams said

News from reporter Mike Magnoli,

“Spreading the message” about Brightline and Tri-Rail.

This same message applies to freight trains as well.

From a CBS12 (WPEC) news segment here is the message you want the public to hear from every elected official in Palm Beach County and everywhere else in Florida, Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams said,

“. . .it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for anyone to ever consider trying to beat a train,” Abrams said.

This is NOT THE MESSAGE YOU WANT TO HEAR from any elected official in Palm Beach County:

“. . .and you know you might’ve been able to outrun a Tri-Rail train, but you can’t outrun a Brightline train”

And even at normal transport speed, whether empty or transporting heavy freight cars, there is no one in Palm Beach County that can outrun a freight train either.

Below are two excerpts from reporter Mike Magnoli’s news segment titled, “Spreading the message: Don’t try to outrun trains”.


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS 12) — People in Palm Beach County have been living alongside Tri-Rail since 1989. The trains run from West Palm Beach to Miami.

and. . .

     West Palm Beach’s Mayor Jeri Muoio and other officials are trying to get the public to take train safety more seriously, “see tracks, think train”, the mayor said:

     “. . .and you know you might’ve been able to outrun a Tri-Rail train, but you can’t outrun a Brightline train,” [emphasis added]

     Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams is the Chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees Tri-Rail, he says that message could be taken the wrong way.
     “A lot of people don’t think that the Tri-Rail train can go as fast as Brightline trains, the Tri-Rail trains on some stretches of the track can and do go that fast, the difference though is that Tri-Rail stops every 3 miles,” Abrams said.
     And the commissioner says regardless of the train’s speed or which company owns it, if the gates are down, a person should never try to outrun a train. “So it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for anyone to ever consider trying to beat a train,” Abrams said.
 

Here is an excerpt from County Commissioner Steven Abrams’ “Train Safety Press Conference”:

Commissioner Abrams currently serves as chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority and is extremely familiar with the importance of train safety which is Tri-Rail’s top priority. Last year, 17 people were killed by Tri-Rail trains from Miami to northern Palm Beach County. While most of the fatalities were suicides, some were the result of people who disregarded the safety warnings and tried to beat the train.

Brightline has been working with Tri-Rail, local law enforcement, municipalities and the county governments to educate the community about rail safety. In addition, Brightline plans to deploy employees to key intersections from Ft. Lauderdale to West Palm Beach to promote safety and educate the public about the need to steer clear of railroad crossings when trains approach.