Avoiding crashes with trains through government "persuasion"

Here on Autoblog we've always been pretty critical of attempts by government to swindle a bunch of money out of drivers in the name of "safety." Given the recent crash in the Chicago area involving a Metra train and over a dozen motorists and passengers, however, we're giving this one a second thought: the city of Wood Dale, Ill., population 13,000, gave out about 1,000 tickets last year for drivers to attempt to beat the crossing gates.  Cameras set up at the gates record motorists who speed over the tracks, sometimes driving around the gates, just to get through before the train comes barreling through. The only problem? The number of drivers ticketed has increased since the tickets were first given out.
No doubt, this is still an attempt by government to swindle a bunch of money out of drivers ($250K is a lot of money for a town of 13,000 people), but if Wood Dale figures out how to make this a better deterrent, it might really be worth it.

Thanks to Richard for the tip.