Let's Cut Some Spending: $200,000 to tell drivers to stop at railroad crossings

Remember the absolutely critical Omnibus spending bill Congress muscled through at the end of last year? It was 4,000 pages that no one read that cost taxpayers $1.7 trillion.

In our Let's Cut Some Spending series, ForAmerica will chronicle parts of the 2021 and 2022 spending bills from a variety of sources that you probably don't know about - programs, grants, and spending of all kinds that should have never happened in the first place and many that are still happening.

Today's offering: $200,000 to tell drivers to stop at railroad crossings!

From Senator Rand Paul's 2022 Festivus Report:

Just turn on the TV, and you’ll see Americans are victims of violent crime more and more frequently. As crime has ticked up around the country, Americans’ personal safety has become a real and pressing issue for millions. We all want these problems addressed quickly and effectively, but it looks like the Federal government has different priorities of how best to keep Americans safe… railroad crossings! The Federal Highway Administration spent $200,000 across 11 states to make radio advertisements to try and reduce the number of vehicle-train collisions in each state.

The public awareness campaign is part of an overall effort to reduce the number of drivers who ignore the flashing signs that indicate a passing train (and ultimately crash). Shouldn’t this already be common sense to anyone who passed their driver’s test? The state of Ohio even got the assistance of former 'the' Ohio State University football player, Bobby Carpenter, to spread the word on not driving into railroads when a train is passing by. But, then again, how else besides the guard rail, siren, and flashing lights are people going to tell that there is danger ahead?

This is common sense. The $200,000 that was spent was never going to make a difference for those who are unable to use common sense.