I don’t see any evidence that a person determined to run a crossing in order to beat a train, is any less inclined to do so just because horns are blaring.
I have to agree that if there are crossings where the trains aren’t supposed to blow for, then there should be gates so that people have the most warning. That being said, I also agree it’s pretty freakin’ stupid to drive in front of a train and not notice it.
His/Her Honour- “Proceed”
Attorney for the Plaintiff- “Your Honour, submissions before you make it clear that the train involved in the accident was equipped with a warning device, to wit a horn, but the engineer was precluded from this one of its several intended uses, sounding a warning at a level crossing. The Town had exacted an agreement from the Rail Road to desist from sounding the horn at crossings in the Town, so my client was not properly warned of the oncoming train as is the convention the world over.”
His/Her Honour- (turning to look over his/her spectacle at the defendant’s attorney) “Is this true?”
Defendant’s Attorney- “Well, yes, Your Honour, but…”
His/Her Honour- “Judgement for the Plaintiff in the amount of US$2.6M. Court is adjourned.”
It’s against my better judgement to participate in this again, but how many of you spend 10 hours a day at a RR crossing? Very few I’ll bet. I’m far more of an expert on this than most experts, wink wink.
And I can tell you from watching this busy 5 lane crossing, that the blowing of the horns, the frequency with which they are blown, and the VOLUME of the horns as absolutely nothing to do with grade crossing accidents.
You can make the horns even louder if you want, but…
-
People are anti-authoritarian. They don’t stop at red lights, they don’t stop at stop signs, and they don’t stop at crossing gates. It’s got nothing to do with how loud the horn is, they do not want to be told that they have to stop.
-
People ARE distracted. You’ve done stupid things while you were driving. We all have. Sometimes nothing happens, sometimes a collision happens, and sometimes you get nailed by a train.
-
People insist they are in a hurry. If “they” could do a campaign where it was shown that most waits at a crossing are 90 seconds or less, and then ask if your life is worth 90 seconds, that might help. Like someone else posted above, a lot more education would help.
-
The Railroad sometimes doesn’t do anything to help it’s case.
I realize you can’t ask a dead person if he heard the horn or not, but I genuinely think the volume has very little to do with it.
That’s my two cents. Now you can tell me if I don’t like the noise I can move blah blah blah. But I was here before they boosted the volume on the air horns.