Daily Herald reporter receives railroad safety award

Daily Herald transportation columnist Marni Pyke received the DuPage Railroad Safety Council's Public Awareness Award last week during an international conference on crossings.

The award recognizes outstanding efforts in railway safety. Pyke, who wrote about preventing injuries and fatalities on railroad crossings in the 2012 series “Track Record,” was an “easy choice,” said DuPage Railroad Safety Council chair Lanny Wilson.

The award was presented Thursday during a reception sponsored by the DRSC and Illinois Commerce Commission as part of the Global Level Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Symposium. The symposium brought international railroad, government, law enforcement and safety advocates together.

The DuPage Railroad Safety Council formed in 1994 after the death of Wilson's daughter, Lauren Elizabeth, and severe injuries to Jonathan Goers, who was hit by a train when he was 11, at the same railroad crossing in Hinsdale. The council's mission is to prevent deaths and injuries at railroad crossings through safety improvements and education.