Anyone who rides commuter trains with some regularity knows that, sadly, pedestrian fatalities happen.

One of the more comprehensive studies of Metra pedestrian fatalities was conducted by Northwestern University, which examined 260 such deaths over a six-year period between 2004 and 2010. According to that study, nearly half of the deaths were classified as suicides.

The study also concluded that the deaths are more often a suburban issue, with the vast majority of the deaths occurring in the suburbs of Lake, DuPage and Cook counties. Barrington, on the Union Pacific Northwest line that cuts through McHenry County, was among those areas identified as a key trouble spot.