Illinois

And obviously miscalculating.

The Chicago area (including Glenview) is riddled with grade level railroad crossings that lend themselves all too well to this sort of thing. Some involve busy streets in congested areas, which is not a great situation.

When a train is coming, it's pretty hard to miss, though.The signals start flashing, the bells start clanging, and the bars go down. Everyone knows exactly what's happening. But every now and then, there will be someone who just HAS to try to beat the train, and they don't always make it.

To induce people to resist that temptation, the state keeps jacking up the fines for ignoring railroad crossing signals, to the point where it's now $500 for a first offense. It has helped, but I don't think there's any way to eliminate the problem completely. Idiots are going to idiot, you know?

And this is a case of a teenager on a bike. Kids that age are prone to taking chances and a bike can warily weave around and between the crossing bars in a way that a car can't. The temptation must have been very strong.

Nobody likes having to wait for a train. I think this kid probably thought he'd be able to make it and took a chance he shouldn't have taken. It's very sad, even tragic. But it's unlikely that yet another warning signal or sound would have a difference, imo.