City of Harrisburg adds safety measures following December's fatal train crash

A push to make a passive railroad crossing safer has yielded results for a family in Harrisburg.

On. Dec. 7, Jennifer Torgerson and her daughter, Kaylee, were in a pickup truck when it was hit by a train at a passive railroad crossing south of Harrisburg, killing both. The truck was driven by Philip Torgerson, who suffered life-threatening injuries.

The surviving family felt compelled to make a change.

“They’ve been down that road a million times, I just don’t understand it,” said Jodi Kuipers, Jennifer’s twin sister. “And immediately, that’s when I came up with #KayleesCrusadeforChange, like something has to happen there, obviously. That’s where that was kind of born, and then we kind of ran with it.”

The crash report from the accident indicated contributing circumstances included a physical obstruction and disregarded traffic signals. The driver also told law enforcement he did not see the train until the last second, according to the report finalized by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety on Dec. 26, 2022.

Jennifer and Kaylee died at the scene and were wearing seatbelts at the time, the report states.

How did Harrisburg respond to the crash?

Initially, the family started reaching out to the South Dakota Department of Transportation and members on the Lincoln County Commission. That also included emailing the department and other officials in charge pleaing for a safety change.

“I don’t know how many people emailed SDDOT about what happened there, but we were kindly told to no longer send emails to that email address,” Kuipers said.

Eventually, those requests were answered. At a January meeting, the Harrisburg City Council approved $8,547 to make warning sign changes to that railroad crossing. That vote allowed for solar-powered flashing railroad crossing indicator signs to be added.

The placement of the signage will happen when materials are delivered, according to the City of Harrisburg, which is also requesting BNSF Railway to change the current yield sign to a stop sign. The railroad owns the crossing, according to Larry Klipfel, the director of communications for the City of Harrisburg.

In addition to those measures, it was reported to the city council about the possibility of adding armed crossings in the future and staff discussed the feasibility of that crossing with the state transportation department. Construction on that project could happen as early as this year.

A representative with the BNSF Railway told the Argus Leader any change from passive warning devices to active warning devices is determined by state agencies and road authorities.

One focus area for the South Dakota Department of Transportation is through the Federal Railway-Highway Crossings Program, which provides states with federal funds for elimination of hazards at crossings. Those funds can be used for safety-related improvements on all public crossings on state highways, city streets and county or township roads.The project was added to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, according to the state transportation department.

The City of Harrisburg also struck an agreement with the LaValley Township to assume performance and responsibility and repair of 3.5 miles of township roads.

More: 2 people dead after train, vehicle crash near Harrisburg

Train-vehicle collisions down significantly for last 50 years, national data shows

Since 1972, train-motor vehicle collisions have decreased 82%, according to Operation Lifesaver , a national nonprofit focused on rail-safety education for the last 50 years.

Across the nation, in 1972, there were roughly 12,000 collisions on highway-rails at public and private crossings. In 2021, that number was at 2,146, according to Operation Lifesaver. Still, according to preliminary statistics from 2021, there were 234 crossing fatalities and 669 injuries, a 20% increase compared with 2020.

Despite the overall improvement, it’s estimated every three hours in the country, a person or vehicle is hit by a train.

Current Federal Railroad Administration data shows highway-rail grade crossings and pedestrian trespassing on tracks together account for more than 95% of all railroad fatalities.

More: Woman seriously injured after car hit by train in 2018

South Dakota sees few fatal car/train incidents

And at the state level, the last fatal crash was three years ago in 2020, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration.

That crash occurred in Brown County, about 7 miles outside of Aberdeen at a BNSF crossing. A 66-year-old driver of a semi tractor-trailer was killed in that incident.

“At BNSF, we believe that every accident and incident is preventable. When it comes to grade crossing safety, BNSF maintains one of the lowest highway-railroad grade-crossing collision rates in the rail industry,” the company stated.

According to a 10-year overview by the Federal Railroad Administration, there had been 10 fatalities in railroad incidents and accidents in the state. In 2017, the state saw three fatality incidents.

South Dakota was not in the top 25 states that accounted for 68% of highway-rail grade crossing collisions.

Remembering Kaylee, Jennifer

Still, the family wanted to do more. Growing up, Jennifer was the “good one,” Jodi said, and Kaylee was “smart as a whip.”

Kaylee was known as a kind person, so her aunt, Jodi, decided to do something in her honor, by creating a “Kaylee’s Kindness Fund.”

Jodi said she’s not quite sure what that will look like at the moment, but she’s hoping it will be able to fund random acts of kindness and tuition scholarships through Dakota Spirit, which Kaylee was a part of for most of her life.

Dakota Spirit is a youth cheerleading program in Sioux Falls. Recently, Dakota Spirit had their first competitive cheer, and Jodi attended. She called the moment “tough to watch,” but said the organization did a great job of keeping Phil, Jennifer’s husband and Kaylee’s father included.

“Given the opportunity here in Sioux Falls, we know that there are kids that want to be able to go to Dakota Spirit, but yet, can’t financially afford it,' Jodi said. "That’s kind of what we’re going to do down the road, maybe be able to help three or four kids that want to be able to do that."

“We didn’t know what #KayleesCrusadeforChange and getting this part done really looks like until we started working on it, so I’m excited to see where this snowballs,” Jodi added.

Since the incident, a GoFundMe has been set up for Phil that has raised more than $19,500.

“I’m sure that’s going to be a tough thing for him to handle, but he’s got all of us for support,” Jodi said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Family rallies for change following fatal Harrisburg train crash