Railroad Crossings:
When Highways Meet Railways

Collisions of trains with roadway vehicles - and the fatalities they cause - have declined steadily over the past decade, yet still, someone in America is hit by a train every 115 minutes, often with catastrophic results.  A motorist is 30 times more likely to be killed in a collision with a train than with another motor vehicle.  Most of these crashes happen at the nation's 280,000 roadway-railway crossings.  In 1999, an estimated 3,420 collisions at grade crossings killed 399 people and injured another 1,360.

One such collision in 1997 killed the driver of a tractor-trailer who was thrown nearly 100 feet into an adjacent field.  His rig caught fire and was dragged almost a quarter mile by the train.  The collision occurred at a lightly traveled rural crossing in Tennessee, where two previous collisions had also resulted in death.  The crossing was not equipped with automatic signaling to warn of the train's approach, and witnesses said they never heard the train's horn sound.  A jury awarded the truck driver's children $2.1 million.

Almost half of all crashes at railroad crossings occur at crossings that are not equipped with automatic gates and flashing lights to warn motorists when a train is approaching.

Formula for Death

Trains cannot stop quickly.  A 150-car freight train traveling at 50 miles per hour requires  8,000 feet  - a mile and a half - to come to a stop.  An 8-car passenger train traveling at 79 miles an hour needs 6,000 feet to stop - a mile and one-eighth.

In the Tennessee crash, it was calculated that after coming to a stop at the tracks, the tractor-trailer would have needed 27 seconds to cross the tracks at 2 miles per hour, 16 seconds at 5 miles per hour.  The train, traveling at 41 miles per hour, covered 660 feet - the farthest up the tracks that the driver could see  - in 11 seconds.

It's the Law

All grade crossings are supposed to be eliminated from all freeways, defined by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as wherever "there is full control of access on the highway regardless of the volume of railroad or highway traffic." The FHWA also requires that automatic arms and flashing lights be installed at grade crossings wherever:

•	A roadway crosses multiple main line tracks.
•	A train or locomotive on any other track blocks a motorist's view of an approaching train.
•	Trains operate at high speed and there is limited sight distance.
•	Trains operate at high speed and both the railway and roadway carry moderately high volumes of traffic.
•	High volumes of highway or train traffic are expected.
•	The roadway carries "substantial numbers" of school buses or trucks transporting hazardous materials.
•	Sight distances are unusually restricted.
•	A crossing has been the site of repeated accidents.
•	A site inspection team recommends them.

Although federal regulations require traffic control devices where any of these conditions exist, a Federal Railroad Administration team can declare that gates and lights are not appropriate. Bureaucrats at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) can also decide that the requirements are not applicable.

Wherever the above circumstances do not exist, any warning devices that are installed require special approval by FHWA.

FRA's 'Zero Tolerance'

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) says it has "zero tolerance" for train  collisions and fatalities.  A significant element of its effort to eliminate all collision fatalities, however, is public education that appears to "blame the victims."  The following is excerpted from the FRA's Highway-Rail Crossing and Trespasser Safety Initiative:

"What is truly tragic is that most of these accidents are avoidable.  Most crossing accidents occur simply because motorists chose to ignore warnings signs, signals or safety gates. Nearly all trespasser deaths are preventable. Unfortunately, many people continue to jog, ride bikes, and walk near or over tracks daily, needlessly endangering their lives and the lives of train crews. Many believe they will hear the oncoming train or that the train will be able to stop in time.

"While many of these fatalities and injuries occur because people choose to disregard warning signs, someare a result of adults and children not understanding that a train can be on the track at any time, with many times less than a minute of warning.

"That is why the FRA has launched a public information campaign…. Education is the most important element of our initiative to reduce these tragic and avoidable incidents."

The hallmark of effective public health efforts are measures that change the environment in which deaths and injuries occur.  Sadly, FRA and the railroads' efforts focus little on such changes, focusing instead on less effective – ultimately more costly – educational efforts. 

(05/01/00)