The Washington state agency that oversees railroad safety said it was aware of safety concerns about a Puyallup rail crossing years before a 59-year-old man in an electric wheelchair was struck and killed by a train there.
The Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) received two complaints about the crossing surface at the North Meridian intersection “being rough to travel” before Richard Geiger was hit on the tracks by a freight train Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson told The News Tribune.
The complaints were submitted in 2012 and in 2016, UTC spokesperson Tiffany Johnson said in an emailed statement Thursday. The agency also received “several” more complaints about the intersection on Thursday, following Geiger’s death, Johnson said…