gates came down after the truck had entered the grade crossing. One witness stated that the gate clipped the truck's trailer and that part of the gate may have broken off as a result. The accident's fatalities were found in the third car from the engines, sleeper car 32035, due to warping of the coach, a piece of running rail piercing it, and fire damage. As a result of the accident, the NTSB made several recommendations: To the highway maintainers: Review the effectiveness of current railroad grade crossing signals and the use of traffic division islands in deterring motorists from trying to drive around crossing gates. To the United States Secretary of Transportation: Provide further grants and incentives to increase enforcement of grade crossing signals. To the United States Federal Railroad Administration: Require the installation of event recorders to monitor gate position at new or improved grade crossings. To the railroads: Initiate procedures to get accurate passenger and crew lists to emergency responders. Implement improved crew accountability procedures on reserved passenger trains. Install event recorders on all new or improved grade crossings. Local civil and criminal investigations The accident was also investigated by Illinois state and local agencies. Stokes had been convicted of numerous traffic violations in the past, and his trucking company, Melco Transfer Inc., had been cited for safety violations. Although the NTSB's investigation placed the fault of the collision on Stokes and his failure to yield at the grade crossing, the Illinois State Police concluded that the crossing lights were flashing, as expected, but the crossing gates were not functioning correctly and failed to be lowered until Stokes had already begun crossing the tracks. The Illinois Attorney General reviewed the case for criminal charges, but due to the conflicting agency reports, it was ultimately determined that the evidence would be insufficient to charge Stokes for the eleven deaths. "Stokes never faced more serious charges, such as involuntary manslaughter, in the accident that also injured 122 people because prosecutors at the time did not believe they could meet the burden of proof," said a spokeswoman for the Illinois attorney general's office. Instead, prosecutors obtained a grand jury indictment against Stokes in September 2001 for one count of willful violation of maximum driving time in violation of Illinois statute 625 ILCS 5/18b-108 (incorporating 49 C.F.R. 395.3) and willful violation of driver's record of duty in violation of Illinois statute