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Lawmakers are moving to allow driving through railroad crossings as soon as guard gates rise — and before warning lights stop flashing.

That is illegal now but the law is often violated. A bill to change that, SB249, passed on a 3-0 vote Thursday through the Senate Transportation Committee and was sent to the full Senate.

"I've done that many times," admitted Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, the bill's sponsor. He said a constituent complained that he received a ticket for it, and he did not know he was supposed to wait until the light stopped flashing — and said he could not even see them.

Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, noted that federal law sets the amount of time that lights must remain flashing after a train passes, and asked how a state law could supersede it — even though she likes the proposed change.

Jenkins said his bill "just creates an affirmative defense and says basically, 'we're not going to give you a ticket' " as long as the crossing is clear.

Utah Transit Authority officials did not testify at the hearing. But afterward, UTA General Counsel Bruce Jones said the agency will work with Jenkins to find ways to improve crossing safety .

UTA has been waging an education campaign to enforce the current law — including ticketing hundreds of offenders and placing signs explaining the law at crossings and on UTA vehicles.

David Goeres, UTA's chief safety officer, said last October that sometimes a second train from the opposite direction can re-trigger signals. Motorists that don't wait for the flashing to stop may find that partially raised gates quickly reverse and lower on their cars. Worse, drivers could crash into that second train.

People ignoring that law contributed to 246 broken crossing gates in 2013 along TRAX and FrontRunner rail lines, Goeres said. Repairs added up to nearly $250,000, or about the cost of operating one bus route for a year.

The previous year, UTA Police issued 462 citations, 133 written warnings and distributed hundreds more cards explaining the law to offenders. Fines vary depending on the city where violations occur, but range from $100 to $300.